” An extreme narrow equatorial jet in Jupiters lower stratosphere observed by JWST” by Ricardo Hueso, Agustín Sánchez-Lavega, Thierry Fouchet, Imke de Pater, Arrate Antuñano, Leigh N. Fletcher, Michael H. Wong, Pablo Rodríguez-Ovalle, Lawrence A. Sromovsky, Patrick M. Fry, Glenn S. Orton, Sandrine Guerlet, Patrick G. J. Irwin, Emmanuel Lellouch, Jake Harkett, Katherine de Kleer, Henrik Melin, Vincent Hue, Amy A. Simon, Statia Luszcz-Cook and Kunio M. Sayanagi, 19 October 2023, Nature Astronomy.DOI: 10.1038/ s41550-023-02099-2.
” A strong high elevation narrow jet detected at Saturns equator” by E. García-Melendo, A. Sánchez-Lavega, J. Legarreta, S. Perez-Hoyos and R. Hueso, 23 November 2010, Geophysical Research Letters.DOI: 10.1029/ 2010GL045434.
” A sustaining quickly moving storm as a guide to Saturns Equatorial jets intricate structure” by A. Sánchez-Lavega, E. García-Melendo, S. Pérez-Hoyos, R. Hueso, M. H. Wong, A. Simon, J. F. Sanz-Requena, A. Antuñano, N. Barrado-Izagirre, I. Garate-Lopez, J. F. Rojas, T. del Río-Gaztelurrutia, J. M. Gómez-Forrellad, I. de Pater, L. Li and T. Barry, 8 November 2016, Nature Communications.DOI: 10.1038/ ncomms13262.
The analysis of the data, now published in the journal Nature Astronomy [1] shows the discovery of a jet stream in Jupiters environment that had gone unnoticed for years. Agustín Sánchez-Lavega and Arrate Antuñano-Martín, lecturers at the Faculty of Engineering– Bilbao, also took part in the discovery.
Structure of the zonal winds on Jupiter from observations at visible wavelengths (white profile) and in various filters utilized in the study (coloured lines as indicated in the figure). The background image is a combination of JWST images sensitive to the upper clouds. Left-hand panel: General structure of the zonal winds. Right-hand panel: Equatorial area with the brand-new jet stream observed in the upper clouds. Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA and Jupiter Early Release Science group.
A Dark Jupiter for a Bright Telescope.
Because Jupiter is a very intense target for the JWST (whose light-collecting area is 6.3 times larger than that of the Hubble Space Telescope), the images were obtained at wavelengths in which most of the light is taken in by gases in the environment. The observations focused on the wavelengths in which Jupiter is darkest. This also suggested that at a lot of these wavelengths, Jupiter had never been observed with the quality needed to resolve the details of the weather condition systems in its environment.
Thanks to the JWSTs features, a three-dimensional view of Jupiters weather systems could be acquired: higher clouds appear brilliant in these images, and much deeper clouds appear as dark areas. The JWST observations were likewise created to acquire a measurement of the movements of the environment by taking 2 sets of images separated by a full rotation of the planet, hence allowing a comprehensive study to be made from the cloud movements.
From left to right: Agustín Sánchez Lavega, Ricardo Hueso and Arrate Antuñano Martín. Credit: UPV/EHU.
Discovery: Equatorial Jet Stream.
The JWST images revealed that the movements that occur in the clouds covering the equator are very various from those observed in the lower clouds. These clouds are so faint that no information can be seen in them in observations acquired from the Earth or perhaps by various space missions. The in-depth JWST images show that at the level of these clouds, winds reach speeds of 500 km/h, while in the lower clouds, situated 30 km listed below, they only reach 250 km/h.
Universal Phenomenon in Gas Giants.
The study published in Nature Astronomy compares this brand-new Jupiter jet with the structure of the equatorial jet stream of the gas giant Saturn, where in 2009 the UPV/EHUs Planetary Sciences Group found a wind structure very similar to the one now revealed on Jupiter, and found on Saturn thanks to observations made by NASAs Cassini space probe. [2-3] On both worlds, there is a fast, narrow equatorial jet at an altitude of about 200 mbar tracked by the quick motion of equatorial clouds. On both Jupiter and Saturn, the elevated equatorial jets may be associated with worldwide temperature level variations occurring in the atmospheres of these worlds on a cyclical basis every few years, however which were thought to be limited in elevation at stratospheric levels to altitudes of 30-150 km above the level of the brand-new equatorial jet stream. If the brand-new Jupiter jet is connected to these temperature oscillations in the upper environment, then the equatorial jet stream should have a variable strength on both Jupiter and Saturn, and likewise at much deeper levels than can be explained by existing climatic designs. These appealing phenomena happen near the tropopause of Jupiter and Saturn, exactly where the atmospheric characteristics change due to the fading impact of the Coriolis forces, and where the thermal homes of the atmosphere modification considerably. Future JWST observations of both Jupiter and Saturn might shed brand-new light on these phenomena.
For more on this discovery, see Webb Space Telescope Reveals New Feature in Jupiters Atmosphere.
References:.
This image of Jupiter from NASAs James Webb Space Telescopes NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) shows spectacular information of the majestic planet in infrared light. In this image, brightness suggests high altitude. The numerous intense white “areas” and “streaks” are most likely very high-altitude cloud tops of condensed convective storms. Auroras, appearing in red in this image, extend to greater elevations above both the southern and northern poles of the planet. By contrast, dark ribbons north of the equatorial area have little cloud cover. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Ricardo Hueso (UPV), Imke de Pater (UC Berkeley), Thierry Fouchet (Observatory of Paris), Leigh Fletcher (University of Leicester), Michael H. Wong (UC Berkeley), Joseph DePasquale (STScI).
The James Webb Space Telescope found a formerly hidden jet stream in Jupiters environment. Comparable phenomena were observed on Saturn, and both might be linked to temperature variations in the particular atmospheres.
High-speed jet streams are a typical function in the environments of lots of planets. On the Earth, jet streams form at different latitudes and meander around the planet, changing latitude and reaching speeds approaching 400 km/h at an altitude of over 10 km above the surface area. On the giant worlds Jupiter and Saturn, jet streams are among the main features of the environment; they are perfectly aligned with the parallels, and are called zonal jets. On Jupiter, these jets alternate in instructions at different latitudes reaching maximum speeds close to 500 km/h.
Images of Jupiter gotten by the JWST (Left) False colour composition. (Centre) Image obtained at a wavelength conscious the upper clouds. (Right) Image gotten at a wavelength conscious the lower clouds. Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA and Jupiter Early Release Science team. Processing: Ricardo Hueso (UPV/EHU).
James Webb Space Telescopes Observation.
On July 27, 2022, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observed the environment of Jupiter as part of an international “Early Science” program in which scientists from the Planetary Sciences Group of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) are participating. Ricardo Hueso, lecturer at the Faculty of Engineering– Bilbao, designed and led the analysis of the series of images that the JWST had actually gotten of the planet.
Images of Jupiter obtained by the JWST (Left) False colour composition. Since Jupiter is a very brilliant target for the JWST (whose light-collecting area is 6.3 times larger than that of the Hubble Space Telescope), the images were acquired at wavelengths in which many of the light is taken in by gases in the environment. The study released in Nature Astronomy compares this brand-new Jupiter jet with the structure of the equatorial jet stream of the gas giant Saturn, where in 2009 the UPV/EHUs Planetary Sciences Group discovered a wind structure really comparable to the one now revealed on Jupiter, and found on Saturn thanks to observations made by NASAs Cassini space probe. On both Jupiter and Saturn, the elevated equatorial jets might be related to global temperature level variations happening in the environments of these planets on a cyclical basis every couple of years, however which were thought to be limited in altitude at stratospheric levels to altitudes of 30-150 km above the level of the brand-new equatorial jet stream. If the brand-new Jupiter jet is related to these temperature oscillations in the upper environment, then the equatorial jet stream ought to have a variable strength on both Jupiter and Saturn, and likewise at much deeper levels than can be explained by existing atmospheric designs.