Artist impression based on JunoCam image of Jupiter obtained on July 21, 2021. Improved to highlight functions, clouds, colors, and the beauty of Jupiter. Jupiters zones and belts observed in microwave light, compared to the colours of the cloud-tops (left), and the winds at the cloud tops (right). Amongst Jupiters a lot of notable characteristics is its distinct banded look. Jupiters planetary-scale winds circulate in opposite instructions, east and west, on the edges of these colourful stripes.
Jupiters Great Red Spot at PJ18 (2019 ), showing large flakes of red product to the west (left) of the vortex. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/ MSSS/Kevin M. Gill
Dr Leigh Fletcher, Associate Professor in Planetary Science at the University of Leicester and Participating Scientist for the Juno objective, is lead author of the study, released in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Planets. He said:
” One of Junos primary objectives was to peer beneath the cloudy veil of Jupiters atmosphere, and to probe the deeper, concealed layers.
” Our research study has revealed that those colorful bands are just the idea of the iceberg, which the mid-latitude bands not just extend deep, however seem to change their nature the even more down you go.
” Weve been calling the transition zone the jovicline, and its discovery has just been made possible by Junos microwave instrument.”
Jupiters belts and zones observed in microwave light, compared to the colours of the cloud-tops (left), and the winds at the cloud tops (right). Two wavelengths of microwave light are revealed, one sensing altitudes above the water cloud, and another picking up below the water clouds. Credit: NASA/JPL/SwRI/ University of Leicester
Among Jupiters many notable characteristics is its distinct banded appearance. Planetary researchers call the light, whiteish bands zones, and the darker, reddish ones belts. Jupiters planetary-scale winds circulate in opposite direction, east and west, on the edges of these colourful stripes. A crucial question is whether this structure is restricted to the worlds cloud tops, or if the belts and zones persist with increasing depth.
An examination of this phenomenon is one of the primary goals of NASAs Juno objective, and the spacecraft carries a specially-designed microwave radiometer to determine emission from deep within the Solar Systems largest planet for the first time.
The Juno group makes use of data from this instrument to analyze the nature of the belts and zones by peering deeper into the Jovian atmosphere than has ever formerly been possible.
Junos microwave radiometer operates in 6 wavelength channels ranging from 1.4 cm to 50 cm, and these enable Juno to probe the atmosphere at pressures starting at the top of the atmosphere near 0.6 bars to pressures going beyond 100 bars, around 250 km deep.
At the cloud tops, Jupiters belts appear brilliant with microwave emission, while the zones stay dark. Brilliant microwave emission either means warmer atmospheric temperature levels, or a lack of ammonia gas, which is a strong absorber of microwave light.
This configuration persists down to roughly 5 bars. And at pressures deeper than 10 bars, the pattern reverses, with the zones ending up being microwave-bright and the belt ending up being dark. Researchers for that reason think that something– either the physical temperature levels or the abundance of ammonia– should for that reason be changing with depth.
Dr Fletcher terms this shift region between five and 10 bars the jovicline, a contrast to the thermocline area of Earths oceans, where seawater shifts sharply from relative warmth to relative coldness. Researchers observe that the jovicline is almost coincident with a stable atmospheric layer developed by condensing water.
Dr Scott Bolton, of NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), is Principal Investigator (PI) for the Juno mission. He stated:
” These amazing outcomes supply our very first peek of how Jupiters well-known zones and belts develop with depth, exposing the power of investigating the huge planets environment in three dimensions.”
There are 2 possible systems that could be responsible for the change in brightness, each implying various physical conclusions.
One mechanism is associated with the circulation of ammonia gas within the belts and zones. Ammonia is nontransparent to microwaves, meaning an area with fairly less ammonia will shine brighter in Junos observations. This system could suggest a stacked system of opposing blood circulation cells, similar to patterns in Earths mid-latitudes and tropics.
These circulation patterns would supply sinking in belts at shallow depths and upwelling in belts at deeper levels– or energetic storms and precipitation, moving ammonia gas from location to location.
Another possibility is that the gradient in emission represents a gradient in temperature, with higher temperatures leading to higher microwave emission.
Winds and temperature levels are connected, so if this circumstance is right, then Jupiters winds may increase with depth listed below the clouds up until we reach the jovicline, prior to lessening into the deeper environment– something that was also recommended by NASAs Galileo probe in 1995, which determined windspeeds as it came down under a parachute into the clouds of Jupiter.
The likely situation is that both systems are at work concurrently, each contributing to part of the observed brightness variation. The race is now on to comprehend why Jupiters blood circulation acts in this way, and whether this is true of the other Giant Planets in our Solar System.
Jupiters Temperate Belt/Zone Contrasts Revealed at Depth by Juno Microwave Observations is published in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Planets.
University of Leicester researchers have actually been members of the Juno group throughout its 5-year prime mission, orbiting the Gas Giant. Earlier this year, Leicester researchers revealed an option to Jupiters energy crisis, dealing with associates from the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA), Boston University, NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT).
Their research study, released in Nature, revealed that Jupiters effective aurorae are responsible for delivering planet-wide heating, in spite of just covering less than 10% of the planets location.
Leicester astronomers and planetary researchers are also set to lead Jupiter observations from the forthcoming James Webb Space Telescope, and play a leading role in both science and instrumentation on the European Space Agency (ESA)s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE), due for launch in 2022.
Referral: “Jupiters Temperate Belt/Zone Contrasts Revealed at Depth by Juno Microwave Observations” by L. N. Fletcher, F. A. Oyafuso, M. Allison, A. Ingersoll, L. Li, Y. Kaspi, E. Galanti, M. H. Wong, G. S. Orton, K. Duer, Z. Zhang, C. Li, T. Guillot, S. M. Levin and S. Bolton, 28 October 2021, Journal of Geophysical Research Planets.DOI: 10.1029/ 2021JE006858.
Artist impression based upon JunoCam image of Jupiter acquired on July 21, 2021. Enhanced to highlight functions, clouds, colors, and the beauty of Jupiter. Credit: NASA/SwRI/MSSS/ TanyaOleksuik © CC NC SA
Leicester study of information recorded in orbit around Jupiter has exposed brand-new insights into whats occurring deep beneath the gas giants vibrant and distinct bands.
Information from the microwave radiometer brought by NASAs Juno spacecraft reveals that Jupiters banded pattern extends deep below the clouds, and that the look of Jupiters zones and belts inverts near the base of the water clouds. Microwave light enables planetary researchers to look deep below Jupiters colorful clouds, to comprehend the weather condition and environment in the warmer, darker, deeper layers.
At elevations shallower than five bars of pressure (or around five times the typical atmospheric pressure on Earth), the worlds belts shine vibrantly in microwave light, whereas the zones are dark. But everything modifications at higher pressures, at altitudes much deeper than 10 bars, providing scientists a peek of an unanticipated turnaround in the meteorology and flow.