NASA’s Juno spacecraft orbiting the gas giant provides us with the first 3D view of the gas giant’s colorful atmospheric features, offering clues about the never before seen processes beneath its clouds. Researchers are able to study the inner workings of the belts and zones of clouds as well as its polar cyclones, with the most intriguing feature being the Great Red Spot. Read more to see the livestream in its entirety and for additional information.
Juno used its microwave radiometer (MWR) to image beneath Jupiter’s cloud tops and probe the structure of its vortex storms, including the Great Red Spot. The new data indicates that these storms are far taller than expected, with some extending 60 miles beneath the cloud tops and others, over 200 miles. Since the spacecraft is traveling low over Jupiter’s cloud deck at about 130,000 mph, scientists were able to measure velocity changes as small 0.01 millimeter per second using a NASA’s Deep Space Network tracking antenna.
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Previously, Juno surprised us with hints that phenomena in Jupiter’s atmosphere went deeper than expected. Now, we’re starting to put all these individual pieces together and getting our first real understanding of how Jupiter’s beautiful and violent atmosphere works – in 3D,” said Scott Bolton, principal investigator of Juno from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio and lead author of the Journal Science paper on the depth of Jupiter’s vortices.
