March 19, 2021

Jupiter and an artistic representation of the winds in its South Pole region

An article published in the journal “Astronomy & Astrophysics” reports the first direct measurement of the speed of winds in the central region of the planet Jupiter’s atmosphere. A team of researchers led by Thibault Cavalié of the Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Bordeaux in France found a way to measure the velocity of winds in the stratosphere in the area hit by comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 in July 1994. Years later, hydrogen cyanide molecules released into the Jovian atmosphere continue to travel together with the winds, and these movements are detectable in the emissions captured by the ALMA radio telescope. The result is that these winds reach 1450 kilometres an hour near Jupiter’s poles.