APOD: 2025 March 9 Б Cyclones at Jupiters North Pole
Explanation:
Why are there so many cyclones around the north pole of Jupiter?
The
topic is still being researched.
NASA's robotic Juno mission orbiting Jupiter
took data in 2018 that was used to construct
this stunning view of the curious cyclones at
Jupiter's north pole.
Measuring the
thermal emission from Jovian cloud tops, the
infrared observations are not restricted to the
hemisphere illuminated by sunlight.
They reveal
eight cyclonic features that surround
a cyclone about 4,000 kilometers in diameter,
just offset from the giant planet's geographic north pole.
Similar data show a cyclone at the
Jovian south pole
with five circumpolar cyclones.
The south pole cyclones are slightly larger than their northern
cousins.
Oddly,
data from the once Saturn-orbiting
Cassini mission has shown that Saturn's
north and
south poles each have only a single cyclonic
storm system.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
