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The spirals and whorls of Jupiter and Saturn may seem fascinating, but they are turbulent storms that are literally out of this world and otherwise. Nothing like this happens on Earth.
The storms raging over these gas giants were believed to originate from the lower atmosphere, just like those on our planet – until now. New research suggests that these supernatural storms are likely fueled by deeper internal forces rather than the external forces that fuel storms just above the Earth’s surface. Simulations of Jupiter and Saturn have shown that their weather systems, from cyclones and highs to magnetic jets and plumes, are mainly caused by violent internal processes.
Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, believed to have formed when the internal dynamo that generates the planet’s magnetic field triggered huge highs – systems located in high-pressure areas in which air flows and neither forms clouds Nor rain – is only one of these phenomena.
“By modeling the dominant dynamic characteristics present on the surface of Jupiter and Saturn, namely zonal jet currents and storms / eddies, we can learn more about what drives them and their connection to the deep interior of the world. planet, ”said Rakesh Kumar Yadav, who led a study recently published in Scientific advances.
There are more storms brewing on Jupiter and Saturn than just the Great Red Spot and the hexagonal storm of Saturn, which have garnered the most attention. One of the last things Cassini returned before disappearing into Saturn’s atmosphere forever was gravitational data, and that, along with data from the Juno mission, helped the Yadav team determine that jet streams on both planets must dive thousands of kilometers deep. This has led to questions wondering if some of the storm eddies that can be seen on these planets generate convection that is occurring well below the surface.
To find out how storms could arise in the bowels of these planets, the research team modeled what they called “thin shell” and “thick shell” simulations. Both of these approaches have gone beyond simply assuming where weather systems are emerging. Each type of simulation took into account the rapid convection that causes turbulence in the planet-shaped spherical shells that were programmed to spin like the planets they were simulating.
On these gas giants, convection is caused as it is on Earth by a rise in hotter and less dense gas and a descent of colder and more dense gas. While only gas is involved here, it can technically happen with any fluid or substance that can flow and change shape when a force acts on it to change.
The Thin Shell Case investigated what happens in the convective layers in the upper atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn. Turbulence occurs between darker atmospheric bands, or belts, into which the cooler gas sinks, and lighter bands called zones, where the hotter gas rises. The “thin shell” simulation generated cyclones, highs like the ones believed to be the source of the Great Red Spot, and areas and belts also known as zonal jets on gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn.
Now for the really heavy stuff. A planet’s dynamo generates its magnetic field from deep within. Earth’s dynamo is the liquid iron that is constantly flowing in the outer core (outside the inner core of solid iron), and electric currents are created when electrons flow with it, and this energy turns into a field magnetic. This is why it is believed that planets with magnetic fields have metallic cores. The “thick-shell” simulation recreated how the hydrodynamic layers of gas giants, which behave like fluids should, interact with their magnetic fields. This caused convection deep inside the magnetic field, causing it to vomit plumes into space. Wherever there was higher magnetic energy, it also created more highs.
There are differences between the planets. Saturn has a more hazy atmosphere, so the fluid dynamics behind its storms are more similar to each other than that of Jupiter. This could be because the thicker atmosphere makes it more difficult to determine if the gases are turning. There don’t seem to be that many highs on Saturn either.
The next time you look at the hypnotic whirlpools of Saturn and Jupiter, remember that behind beauty there is a beast.
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