Jupiter’s poles have cyclone clusters

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Jupiter’s poles are blanketed by geometric clusters of cyclones, and its atmosphere is deeper than scientists suspected.

These are just some of the discoveries reported by four international research teams Wednesday, based on observations by NASA’s Juno spacecraft circling Jupiter.

One group uncovered a constellation of nine cyclones over Jupiter’s north pole and six over the south pole. The wind speeds exceed Category 5 hurricane strength in places, reaching 220 mph.

The massive storms haven’t changed position much — or merged — since observations began. Each cyclone measures several thousand miles across.

The fifth planet from our sun, gas giant Jupiter is by far the largest planet in our solar system. Launched in 2011, Juno has been orbiting Jupiter since 2016 and peering beneath the thick ammonia clouds. It’s only the second spacecraft to circle the planet; Galileo did it from 1995 to 2003.

Another of the studies in this week’s journal Nature finds that Jupiter’s crisscrossing east-west jet streams actually penetrate thousands of miles beneath the visible cloud tops. By better understanding these strong jet streams and the gravity field, scientists can better decipher the core of Jupiter.

A similar situation may be occurrinww on other big gas planets like Saturn, where the atmosphere could be even deeper than Jupiter’s.

[NASA] This composite image, derived from data collected by the Jupiter-orbiting Juno spacecraft, shows a central cyclone at the planet’s north pole and the eight cyclones that encircle it.