Ever since Juno began sending us images of Jupiter’s poles, we have been amazed. The snapshots are at least hypnotizing. In one of the latest images sent by the space probe, you can see a whole potpourri of storm vortices that are connected to each other. From a distance they may appear serene, but they are not at all.
The snapshot was taken on July 5 , when the spacecraft passed 2,500 kilometers above the polar cloud tops. It was Juno’s forty-third close flyby of Jupiter. Because of its axial orientation, we can’t see Jupiter’s poles most of the time, so scientists rely on data from Juno to study the atmospheric dynamics of these regions.
The serenity conveyed by the image is deceptive, for as we approach Jupiter’s cloud tops, we begin to get a sense of the sheer ferocity of the planet’s weather . “These powerful storms can be more than 30 miles (50 kilometers) high and hundreds of miles wide,” a NASA JPL spokesperson wrote on its website. “Finding out how they form is key to understanding Jupiter’s atmosphere, as well as the fluid dynamics and cloud chemistry that create the planet’s other atmospheric features.” Scientists are particularly interested in the different shapes, sizes, and colors of vortices .”
Each of Jupiter’s poles has its own characteristics when it comes to storms. The south pole had so far six cyclones, each the size of the United States, one in the center and five forming an almost perfect pentagon. All going around in a clockwise direction. We say that Jupiter had up to an hour six storms because in the Juno flights, scientists observed that there was a seventh storm , with which the pentagon became a hexagon.
As for the North Pole, scientists have counted nine storms there, eight located around a central one and all rotating counterclockwise. And, in the high-latitude regions surrounding these two central polar concatenations of storms, other vortices arise.
Using data from Juno, scientists have identified a mechanism by which these storms are separated instead of merging into one megastorm, as happens at the poles of Saturn. Tracking changes between Juno flybys is one of the most important tools planetary scientists have for understanding Jupiter’s wild weather, particularly at its poles.
