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Three researchers – two from Harvard and one from the University of Alberta – have conducted simulations that suggest that the weather on Jupiter and Saturn may be affected by different factors than on Earth.
Harvard postdoctoral fellow Rakesh K. Yadav, Harvard geophysics professor Jeremy Bloxham, and University of Alberta associate professor Moritz Heimpel published the study in the journal Science Advances on November 13.
The researchers simulated convection – the rising process of the hottest fluid and sinking of the colder fluid – in rotating spherical shells that mimic the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn. While surface-level atmospheric mechanisms largely motivate Earth’s time, the researchers found that Jupiter and Saturn’s time may instead stem from these much deeper convection patterns.
Previous weather studies of large planets like Jupiter and Saturn have been largely separated into two schools of thought, Yadav said in an interview. The first group believe that the time on these giant planets comes from a thin layer of the atmosphere near the surfaces of the planets, similar to Earth. The latter group – which includes Yadav, Bloxham and Heimpel – argue that deeper internal forces could explain the planets’ unique weather formations.
“We belong to that group, where we think the atmospheres – the characteristics we have seen on the surfaces – are probably very, very deep,” he said.
Research by Yadav, Bloxham and Heimpel focused on two simulations. The first provided information on the spontaneous generation of climate-related phenomena such as zonal jets, hurricanes and cyclones.
Although the researchers expected to find zonal jets – which are bands around the planet, similar to jet streams – and hurricane-like storms in the simulations, Yadav said the most surprising results were cyclones.
“We ended up finding giant cyclones, cyclones as large or sometimes even larger than the Great Red Spot of Jupiter. So it was totally unexpected, “he said.
The second simulation demonstrated how the dynamo region – an electrically conductive fluid region traditionally considered inert – can actually play a significant role in the initiation and continuation of anticyclones. Anticyclones are storms similar to cyclones, but revolve around a center of high atmospheric pressure.
‘Based on these two case studies, we can begin to piece together a global picture of the fluid dynamics driven by the deep convection that occurs in Jupiter and Saturn,’ the researchers wrote in their paper.
Yadav pointed out that simulations provide researchers with the opportunity to analyze the internal forces underlying specific planetary phenomena.
“We can’t go into planets and see how things change over time. But in our simulation, of course, we could do that, “he said.” That’s why in our article we could state that this kind of giant Great Red Spot feature in our model is connected within the planet. “
Yadav said he hopes the simulations will serve as a starting point for future discoveries.
“We’re also just going to analyze it even more. There is so much data that you can imagine doing a lot more things, “he said.
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