Explanation:
How do Jupiter's clouds move?
To help find out, images taken with NASA's
Juno spacecraft during its
last pass
near Jupiter have been analyzed and digitally extrapolated into a
time-lapse video.
The eight-second time-lapse video,
digitally
extrapolated between two images taken only nine minutes apart, estimates how
Jupiter's clouds move over 29 hours.
Abstractly, the result appears something like a
psychedelic
paisley dream.
Scientifically, however, the computer animation shows that
circular storms tend to swirl, while
bands and zones
appear to flow.
This overall motion is not surprising and
has been seen on
time-lapse videos of
Jupiter before,
although never in this detail.
The featured
region
spans about four times the area of Jupiter's
Great Red Spot.
Results from Juno
are showing, unexpectedly, that
Jupiter's
weather phenomena can extend deep below its cloud tops.
Press Conference (2018 May 17):
Juno and the New Jupiter: What
Have We Learned So Far?
