NASA just released this fascinating and gorgeous video of Jupiter’s north pole — and its wild, swirling storms.
They’re not some CGI mockup; these are actual images of the real planet. They were taken by Juno probe that’s currently orbiting Jupiter; Juno has an infrared mapping device that’s able to probe up to 45 miles below Jupiter’s surface, capturing this lush 3D detail.
Jupiter’s north pole is dominated by a cluster of cyclones: One large central one, surrounded by eight smaller ones – though on Jupiter, “smaller” means these ones are up to 2,900 miles in size. Jupiter is biiiiig man!
This second video zooms out a bit further and lets you see how the main cyclone and the eight smaller ones are positioned …
These videos are so trippy, I could stare at them all day.
Figuring out how Jupiter works means figuring out what’s happening beneath the surface, so this new phase of infrared imaging is crucial. The planet is still awfully mysterious, because as NASA notes, we’re still not sure why Jupiter’s atmosphere is divided the way it is:
The map Connerney’s team made of the dynamo source region revealed unexpected irregularities, regions of surprising magnetic field intensity, and that Jupiter’s magnetic field is more complex in the northern hemisphere than in the southern hemisphere. About halfway between the equator and the north pole lies an area where the magnetic field is intense and positive. It is flanked by areas that are less intense and negative. In the southern hemisphere, however, the magnetic field is consistently negative, becoming more and more intense from the equator to the pole.
The researchers are still figuring out why they would see these differences in a rotating planet that’s generally thought of as more-or-less fluid.
(A tip of the hat to @JoAnnaScience for pointing this one out!)