Modeling the stability of polygonal patterns of vortices at the poles of Jupiter as revealed by the Juno spacecraft
From its pole-to-pole orbit, the Juno spacecraft discovered arrays of cyclonic vortices in polygonal patterns around the poles of Jupiter. In the north, there are eight vortices around a central vortex, and in the south there are five. The patterns and the individual vortices that define them have b...
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Caltech Authors (California Institute of Technology) |
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English |
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From its pole-to-pole orbit, the Juno spacecraft discovered arrays of cyclonic vortices in polygonal patterns around the poles of Jupiter. In the north, there are eight vortices around a central vortex, and in the south there are five. The patterns and the individual vortices that define them have been stable since August 2016. The azimuthal velocity profile vs. radius has been measured, but vertical structure is unknown. Here, we ask, what repulsive mechanism prevents the vortices from merging, given that cyclones drift poleward in atmospheres of rotating planets like Earth? What atmospheric properties distinguish Jupiter from Saturn, which has only one cyclone at each pole? We model the vortices using the shallow water equations, which describe a single layer of fluid that moves horizontally and has a free surface that moves up and down in response to fluid convergence and divergence. We find that the stability of the pattern depends mostly on shielding—an anticyclonic ring around each cyclone, but also on the depth. Too little shielding and small depth lead to merging and loss of the polygonal pattern. Too much shielding causes the cyclonic and anticyclonic parts of the vortices to fly apart. The stable polygons exist in between. Why Jupiter’s vortices occupy this middle range is unknown. The budget—how the vortices appear and disappear—is also unknown, since no changes, except for an intruder that visited the south pole briefly, have occurred at either pole since Juno arrived at Jupiter in 2016. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Li, Cheng Ingersoll, Andrew P. Klipfel, Alexandra P. Brettle, Harriet |
spellingShingle |
Li, Cheng Ingersoll, Andrew P. Klipfel, Alexandra P. Brettle, Harriet Modeling the stability of polygonal patterns of vortices at the poles of Jupiter as revealed by the Juno spacecraft |
author_facet |
Li, Cheng Ingersoll, Andrew P. Klipfel, Alexandra P. Brettle, Harriet |
author_sort |
Li, Cheng |
title |
Modeling the stability of polygonal patterns of vortices at the poles of Jupiter as revealed by the Juno spacecraft |
title_short |
Modeling the stability of polygonal patterns of vortices at the poles of Jupiter as revealed by the Juno spacecraft |
title_full |
Modeling the stability of polygonal patterns of vortices at the poles of Jupiter as revealed by the Juno spacecraft |
title_fullStr |
Modeling the stability of polygonal patterns of vortices at the poles of Jupiter as revealed by the Juno spacecraft |
title_full_unstemmed |
Modeling the stability of polygonal patterns of vortices at the poles of Jupiter as revealed by the Juno spacecraft |
title_sort |
modeling the stability of polygonal patterns of vortices at the poles of jupiter as revealed by the juno spacecraft |
publisher |
National Academy of Sciences |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/ https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/15/24082.full.pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/4/pnas.2008440117.sapp.pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/5/pnas.2008440117.sm01.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/7/pnas.2008440117.sm02.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/8/pnas.2008440117.sm03.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/9/pnas.2008440117.sm04.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/10/pnas.2008440117.sm05.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/11/pnas.2008440117.sm06.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/12/pnas.2008440117.sm07.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/13/pnas.2008440117.sm08.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/14/pnas.2008440117.sm09.mov https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20200911-133135658 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(101.133,101.133,-66.117,-66.117) |
geographic |
Jupiter South Pole |
geographic_facet |
Jupiter South Pole |
genre |
South pole |
genre_facet |
South pole |
op_relation |
https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/15/24082.full.pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/4/pnas.2008440117.sapp.pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/5/pnas.2008440117.sm01.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/7/pnas.2008440117.sm02.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/8/pnas.2008440117.sm03.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/9/pnas.2008440117.sm04.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/10/pnas.2008440117.sm05.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/11/pnas.2008440117.sm06.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/12/pnas.2008440117.sm07.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/13/pnas.2008440117.sm08.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/14/pnas.2008440117.sm09.mov Li, Cheng and Ingersoll, Andrew P. and Klipfel, Alexandra P. and Brettle, Harriet (2020) Modeling the stability of polygonal patterns of vortices at the poles of Jupiter as revealed by the Juno spacecraft. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 117 (39). pp. 24082-24087. ISSN 0027-8424. PMCID PMC7533696. doi:10.1073/pnas.2008440117. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20200911-133135658 <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20200911-133135658> |
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other |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2008440117 |
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |
container_volume |
117 |
container_issue |
39 |
container_start_page |
24082 |
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24087 |
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1766202380879134720 |
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ftcaltechauth:oai:authors.library.caltech.edu:105339 2023-05-15T18:22:58+02:00 Modeling the stability of polygonal patterns of vortices at the poles of Jupiter as revealed by the Juno spacecraft Li, Cheng Ingersoll, Andrew P. Klipfel, Alexandra P. Brettle, Harriet 2020-09-29 application/pdf video/quicktime https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/ https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/15/24082.full.pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/4/pnas.2008440117.sapp.pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/5/pnas.2008440117.sm01.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/7/pnas.2008440117.sm02.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/8/pnas.2008440117.sm03.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/9/pnas.2008440117.sm04.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/10/pnas.2008440117.sm05.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/11/pnas.2008440117.sm06.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/12/pnas.2008440117.sm07.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/13/pnas.2008440117.sm08.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/14/pnas.2008440117.sm09.mov https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20200911-133135658 en eng National Academy of Sciences https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/15/24082.full.pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/4/pnas.2008440117.sapp.pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/5/pnas.2008440117.sm01.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/7/pnas.2008440117.sm02.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/8/pnas.2008440117.sm03.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/9/pnas.2008440117.sm04.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/10/pnas.2008440117.sm05.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/11/pnas.2008440117.sm06.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/12/pnas.2008440117.sm07.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/13/pnas.2008440117.sm08.mov https://authors.library.caltech.edu/105339/14/pnas.2008440117.sm09.mov Li, Cheng and Ingersoll, Andrew P. and Klipfel, Alexandra P. and Brettle, Harriet (2020) Modeling the stability of polygonal patterns of vortices at the poles of Jupiter as revealed by the Juno spacecraft. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 117 (39). pp. 24082-24087. ISSN 0027-8424. PMCID PMC7533696. doi:10.1073/pnas.2008440117. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20200911-133135658 <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20200911-133135658> other Article PeerReviewed 2020 ftcaltechauth https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2008440117 2022-02-10T18:44:38Z From its pole-to-pole orbit, the Juno spacecraft discovered arrays of cyclonic vortices in polygonal patterns around the poles of Jupiter. In the north, there are eight vortices around a central vortex, and in the south there are five. The patterns and the individual vortices that define them have been stable since August 2016. The azimuthal velocity profile vs. radius has been measured, but vertical structure is unknown. Here, we ask, what repulsive mechanism prevents the vortices from merging, given that cyclones drift poleward in atmospheres of rotating planets like Earth? What atmospheric properties distinguish Jupiter from Saturn, which has only one cyclone at each pole? We model the vortices using the shallow water equations, which describe a single layer of fluid that moves horizontally and has a free surface that moves up and down in response to fluid convergence and divergence. We find that the stability of the pattern depends mostly on shielding—an anticyclonic ring around each cyclone, but also on the depth. Too little shielding and small depth lead to merging and loss of the polygonal pattern. Too much shielding causes the cyclonic and anticyclonic parts of the vortices to fly apart. The stable polygons exist in between. Why Jupiter’s vortices occupy this middle range is unknown. The budget—how the vortices appear and disappear—is also unknown, since no changes, except for an intruder that visited the south pole briefly, have occurred at either pole since Juno arrived at Jupiter in 2016. Article in Journal/Newspaper South pole Caltech Authors (California Institute of Technology) Jupiter ENVELOPE(101.133,101.133,-66.117,-66.117) South Pole Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117 39 24082 24087 |