New discoveries on the planet Jupiter made thanks to the work of NASA’s Juno space probe were presented at the American Geophysical Union’s fall conference, which was virtual this year. In particular, new information was collected regarding the so-called hot spots, areas of the Jovian atmosphere that are denser and warmer than expected. Juno made it possible to obtain data that suggests that they’re larger and deeper than previously thought. Another news on Jupiter is that the new cyclone discovered last year at the planet’s south pole has dissolved.
The mystery of the Jovian hot spots began in 1995, when NASA’s Galileo space probe had a very close encounter with the planet’s atmosphere and identified some areas that are denser and warmer than scientists expected. As hoped, the Juno space probe, equipped with more advanced instruments than Galileo’s, obtained new information which, however, creates new questions.
During its 29th Jupiter flyby, the Juno space probe made measurements in some of what the mission scientists thought were hot spots. The image (NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS. Image processing: Brian Swift © CC BY) shows three examples of hot spots.
The analysis of the data collected indicates that the entire north equatorial belt is generally very dry, not just the hot spots. This means that what for many years were considered isolated areas are actually part of a very large region of the planet which is drier than the others.
Another interesting discovery related to hot spots is that these areas, flanked by active clouds and storms, fuel electrical discharges at high altitudes. These are the lightning strikes already detected by the Juno space probe of the type that occurs when ammonia and water mix to form a kind of hailstones nicknamed mushballs. In short, there are various phenomena, and slowly Juno is revealing various interconnections among them.
About a year ago, the presence of a new cyclone was announced at Jupiter’s south pole. It was fitting into what was a pentagonal geometric configuration transforming it into a hexagon. Over the course of 2020, the new cyclone moved away from the polar area and eventually dissolved. The phenomena taking place at the poles of Jupiter are little known due to the difficulties in observing them, so the data detected by the Juno space probe are crucial. Getting to know those cyclones better will help better understand various processes taking place in the atmospheres of gas giant planets.
Once again, the work of the Juno space probe brought some clarification on little-known processes but also other questions because there’s still a lot to learn about hot spots and polar cyclones. Surprises can also come because the conditions in Jupiter’s atmosphere are truly exotic, very different from those on Earth.
