[ad_1]
The spirals and vortexes on Jupiter and Saturn may seem mesmerizing, but they are turbulent storms that are out of this world literally and otherwise. Nothing like this happens on Earth.
The raging storms on these gas giants were thought to have come from the lower atmosphere, just like those on our planet, until now. New research suggests that these otherworldly storms are likely fueled by deeper internal forces rather than external forces that power the storms just above the Earth’s surface. Simulations of Jupiter and Saturn have shown that their weather systems, from cyclones and anticyclones to magnetic jets and plumes, are mainly caused by violent internal processes.
The Great Red Spot of Jupiter, thought to have formed when the internal dynamo that generates the planet’s magnetic field triggered immense anticyclones – systems in high-pressure areas where air sinks and no clouds or rain form – is just one of these phenomena.
“By modeling the dominant dynamic features present on the surface of Jupiter and Saturn, namely, zonal jet streams and storms / eddies, we can learn what drives them and their connection to the planet’s deep interior,” said Rakesh Kumar Yadav. , who led a study recently published in Advances in science.
There are more fermenting storms on Jupiter and Saturn than just the Great Red Spot and Saturn’s hex storm, which have received the most attention. One of the last things Cassini transmitted before it vanished forever in Saturn’s atmosphere was gravitational data and this, along with data from the Juno mission, helped Yadav’s team determine that jet streams on both planets must submerge. thousands of miles deep. This has led to questions asking whether some of the storm eddies that can be seen on these planets are generated from convection that occurs far 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 the simple assumption of where weather systems emerge. Each type of simulation took into account the fast convection that causes turbulence in planet-shaped spherical shells programmed to rotate just like the planets they were simulating.
On these gas giants, convection is caused as on Earth by a warmer, less dense gas and a colder, denser gas that sinks. Although only gas is involved here, technically it can happen with any fluid or substance that can flow and change shape when a force acts upon it to change.
The thin shell case investigated what happens in the convection layers in the upper atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn. Turbulence occurs between the darker atmospheric bands, or belts, where the colder gas is sinking, and the lighter bands known as zones, where the warmer gas is rising. The “thin shell” simulation generated cyclones, anticyclones such as those thought to give rise to the Great Red Spot, and zones 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 liquid iron that is constantly flowing into the outer core (outside the inner solid iron core) and electric currents are created when electrons flow with it and that energy transforms into a magnetic field. This is why it is believed that the planets with magnetic fields have metal cores. The “thick shell” simulation recreated the way in which the hydrodynamic layers of gas giants, which behave as they should, should interact with their magnetic fields. This caused convection deep within the magnetic field causing it to spew plumes into space. Wherever there was more magnetic energy, it also created more anticyclones.
There are some differences between the planets. Saturn has a more nebulous atmosphere, so the fluid dynamics behind its storms are more similar to each other than those of Jupiter. This could be due to the fact that the denser atmosphere makes it difficult to determine whether the gases are swirling. There don’t seem to be many anticyclones on Saturn either.
The next time you observe the hypnotic eddies of Saturn and Jupiter, remember that behind the beauty there is a beast.
.
[ad_2]
Source link
