Atmosphere of Jupiter

stopped transmitting at a depth of below the "surface" of Jupiter. In the thermosphere, temperatures continue to rise, eventually reaching at about , where pressure is about . Jupiter's troposphere contains a complicated cloud structure. The upper clouds, located in the pressure range , are made of ammonia ice. Below these ammonia ice clouds, denser clouds made of ammonium hydrosulfide, , or ammonium sulfide, (between ), and water () are thought to exist. There are no methane clouds as the temperatures are too high for it to condense. The water clouds form the densest layer of clouds and have the strongest influence on the dynamics of the atmosphere. This is a result of the higher condensation heat of water and higher water abundance as compared to the ammonia and hydrogen sulfide (oxygen is a more abundant chemical element than either nitrogen or sulfur). Various tropospheric (at ) and stratospheric (at ) haze layers reside above the main cloud layers. The stratospheric haze layers are made from condensed heavy polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or hydrazine, which are generated in the upper stratosphere () from methane under the influence of the solar ultraviolet radiation (UV). The methane abundance relative to molecular hydrogen in the stratosphere is about , while the abundance ratio of other light hydrocarbons, like ethane and acetylene, to molecular hydrogen is about . Jupiter's thermosphere is located at pressures lower than and demonstrates such phenomena as airglow, polar aurorae and X-ray emissions. Within it lie layers of increased electron and ion density that form the ionosphere. The high temperatures prevalent in the thermosphere () have not been explained yet; existing models predict a temperature no higher than about . They may be caused by absorption of high-energy solar radiation (UV or X-ray), by heating from the charged particles precipitating from the Jovian magnetosphere, or by dissipation of upward-propagating gravity waves. The thermosphere and exosphere at the poles and at low latitudes emit X-rays, which were first observed by the Einstein Observatory in 1983. The energetic particles coming from Jupiter's magnetosphere create bright auroral ovals, which encircle the poles. Unlike their terrestrial analogs, which appear only during magnetic storms, aurorae are permanent features of Jupiter's atmosphere. The thermosphere was the first place outside the Earth where the trihydrogen cation () was discovered. This ion emits strongly in the mid-infrared part of the spectrum, at wavelengths between ; this is the main cooling mechanism of the thermosphere. == Chemical composition ==

The composition of Jupiter's atmosphere is similar to that of the planet as a whole. Jupiter's atmosphere is the most comprehensively understood of those of all the giant planets because it was observed directly by the Galileo atmospheric probe when it entered the Jovian atmosphere on December 7, 1995. Other sources of information about Jupiter's atmospheric composition include the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO), the Galileo and Cassini orbiters, and Earth-based observations. The two main constituents of the Jovian atmosphere are molecular hydrogen () and helium. The helium abundance is relative to molecular hydrogen by number of molecules, and its mass fraction is , which is slightly lower than the Solar System's primordial value. The reason for this low abundance is not entirely understood, but some of the helium may have condensed into the core of Jupiter. This condensation is likely to be in the form of helium rain: as hydrogen turns into the metallic state at depths of more than , helium separates from it forming droplets which, being denser than the metallic hydrogen, descend towards the core. This can also explain the severe depletion of neon (see Table), an element that easily dissolves in helium droplets and would be transported in them towards the core as well. The atmosphere contains various simple compounds such as water, methane (), hydrogen sulfide (), ammonia () and phosphine (). Their abundances in the deep (below ) troposphere imply that the atmosphere of Jupiter is enriched in the elements carbon, nitrogen, sulfur and possibly oxygen by a factor of 2–4 relative to the Sun. The noble gases argon, krypton and xenon also appear in abundance relative to solar levels (see table), while neon is much scarcer. Other chemical compounds such as arsine () and germane () are present only in trace amounts. The upper atmosphere of Jupiter contains small amounts of simple hydrocarbons such as ethane, acetylene, and diacetylene, which form from methane under the influence of the solar ultraviolet radiation and charged particles coming from Jupiter's magnetosphere. The carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and water present in the upper atmosphere are thought to originate from impacting comets, such as Shoemaker-Levy 9. The water cannot come from the troposphere because the cold tropopause acts like a cold trap, effectively preventing water from rising to the stratosphere (see Vertical structure above). Earth- and spacecraft-based measurements have led to improved knowledge of the isotopic ratios in Jupiter's atmosphere. As of July 2003, the accepted value for the deuterium abundance is , which probably represents the primordial value in the protosolar nebula that gave birth to the Solar System. The ratio of nitrogen isotopes in the Jovian atmosphere, {{chem2|^{15}N|link=nitrogen-15}} to {{chem2|^{14}N|link=nitrogen-14}}, is , a third lower than that in the Earth's atmosphere (). The latter discovery is especially significant since the previous theories of Solar System formation considered the terrestrial value for the ratio of nitrogen isotopes to be primordial. == Zones, belts and jets ==

of Jupiter's atmosphere centered about Jupiter's south pole The visible surface of Jupiter is divided into several bands parallel to the equator. There are two types of bands: lightly colored zones and relatively dark belts. The wider Equatorial Zone (EZ) extends between latitudes of approximately 7°S to 7°N. Above and below the EZ, the North and South Equatorial belts (NEB and SEB) extend to 18°N and 18°S, respectively. Farther from the equator lie the North and South Tropical zones (NtrZ and STrZ). The alternating pattern of belts and zones continues until the polar regions at approximately 50 degrees latitude, where their visible appearance becomes somewhat muted. The difference in the appearance between zones and belts is caused by differences in the opacity of the clouds. Ammonia concentration is higher in zones, which leads to the appearance of denser clouds of ammonia ice at higher altitudes, which in turn leads to their lighter color. On the other hand, in belts clouds are thinner and are located at lower altitudes. The upper troposphere is colder in zones and warmer in belts. The exact nature of chemicals that make Jovian zones and bands so colorful is not known, but they may include complicated compounds of sulfur, phosphorus and carbon. The Jovian bands are bounded by zonal atmospheric flows (winds), called jets. The eastward (prograde) jets are found at the transition from zones to belts (going away from the equator), whereas westward (retrograde) jets mark the transition from belts to zones. Such flow velocity patterns mean that the jets' eastward momentum decreases in belts and increases in zones from the equator to the pole. Therefore, wind shear in belts is cyclonic, while in zones it is anticyclonic. The EZ is an exception to this rule, showing a strong eastward (prograde) jet and has a local minimum of the wind speed exactly at the equator. The jet speeds are high on Jupiter, reaching more than . These speeds correspond to ammonia clouds located in the pressure range . The prograde jets are generally more powerful than the retrograde jets. The jets extend thousands of kilometers into the interior, as measured by the gravitometer instrument onboard of the Juno spacecraft. The direction at which the jets extend into the planet is parallel to Jupiter's axis of rotation rather than in a radial direction (toward the center of the planet), consistent with the Taylor-Proudman theorem. The Galileo Probe measured the vertical profile of a jet along its descent trajectory into Jupiter's atmosphere, finding the winds to decay over two to three scale heights above the clouds, while below the cloud level, winds increase slightly and then remain constant down to at least —the maximum operational depth reached by the probe. The origin of Jupiter's colored banded structure is not completely clear, though it may resemble the cloud structure of Earth's Hadley cells. The simplest interpretation is that zones are sites of atmospheric upwelling, whereas belts are manifestations of downwelling. When air enriched in ammonia rises in zones, it expands and cools, forming high and dense white clouds. In belts, however, the air descends, warming adiabatically as in a convergence zone on Earth, and white ammonia clouds evaporate, revealing lower, darker clouds. The location and width of bands, speed and location of jets on Jupiter are remarkably stable, having changed only slightly between 1980 and 2000. One example of change is a decrease of the speed of the strongest eastward jet located at the boundary between the North Tropical zone and North Temperate belts at 23°N. Another characteristic of the SEB is a long train of cyclonic disturbances following the Great Red Spot. Like the NTropZ, the STropZ is one of the most prominent zones on the planet; not only does it contain the GRS, but it is occasionally rent by a South Tropical Disturbance (STropD), a division of the zone that can be very long-lived; the most famous one lasted from 1901 to 1939. The South Temperate Region, or South Temperate Belt (STB), is yet another dark, prominent belt, more so than the NTB; until March 2000, its most famous features were long-lived white ovals BC, DE, and FA, which have since merged to form Oval BA ("Red Jr."). The ovals were part of South Temperate Zone, but they extended into STB partially blocking it. The STB has occasionally faded, apparently due to complex interactions between the white ovals and the GRS. The appearance of the South Temperate Zone (STZ)—the zone in which the white ovals originated—is highly variable. There are other features on Jupiter that are either temporary or difficult to observe from Earth. The South South Temperate Region is harder to discern even than the NNTR; its detail is subtle and can only be studied well by large telescopes or spacecraft. Many zones and belts are more transient in nature and are not always visible. These include the Equatorial band (EB), North Equatorial belt zone (NEBZ, a white zone within the belt) and South Equatorial belt zone (SEBZ). Belts are also occasionally split by a sudden disturbance. When a disturbance divides a normally singular belt or zone, an N or an S is added to indicate whether the component is the northern or southern one; e.g., NEB(N) and NEB(S). == Dynamics ==

Circulation in Jupiter's atmosphere is markedly different from that in the atmosphere of Earth. The interior of Jupiter is fluid and lacks any solid surface. Therefore, convection may occur throughout the planet's outer molecular envelope. As of 2008, a comprehensive theory of the dynamics of the Jovian atmosphere has not been developed. Any such theory needs to explain the following facts: the existence of narrow stable bands and jets that are symmetric relative to Jupiter's equator, the strong prograde jet observed at the equator, the difference between zones and belts, and the origin and persistence of large vortices such as the Great Red Spot. The theories regarding the dynamics of the Jovian atmosphere can be broadly divided into two classes: shallow and deep. The former hold that the observed circulation is largely confined to a thin outer (weather) layer of the planet, which overlays the stable interior. The latter hypothesis postulates that the observed atmospheric flows are only a surface manifestation of deeply rooted circulation in the outer molecular envelope of Jupiter. As both theories have their own successes and failures, many planetary scientists think that the true theory will include elements of both models. Shallow models The first attempts to explain Jovian atmospheric dynamics date back to the 1960s. They were partly based on terrestrial meteorology, which had become well developed by that time. Those shallow models assumed that the jets on Jupiter are driven by small scale turbulence, which is in turn maintained by moist convection in the outer layer of the atmosphere (above the water clouds). The finite size of the planet means that the cascade can not produce structures larger than some characteristic scale, which for Jupiter is called the Rhines scale. Its existence is connected to production of Rossby waves. This process works as follows: when the largest turbulent structures reach a certain size, the energy begins to flow into Rossby waves instead of larger structures, and the inverse cascade stops. Since on the spherical rapidly rotating planet the dispersion relation of the Rossby waves is anisotropic, the Rhines scale in the direction parallel to the equator is larger than in the direction orthogonal to it. More elaborated multilayer versions of weather–layer models produce more stable circulation, but many problems persist. Meanwhile, the Galileo Probe found that the winds on Jupiter extend well below the water clouds at and do not show any evidence of decay down to pressure level, which implies that circulation in the Jovian atmosphere may in fact be deep. Deep models The deep model was first proposed by Busse in 1976. His model was based on another well-known feature of fluid mechanics, the Taylor–Proudman theorem. It holds that in any fast-rotating barotropic ideal liquid, the flows are organized in a series of cylinders parallel to the rotational axis. The conditions of the theorem are probably met in the fluid Jovian interior. Therefore, the planet's molecular hydrogen mantle may be divided into cylinders, each cylinder having a circulation independent of the others. Those latitudes where the cylinders' outer and inner boundaries intersect with the visible surface of the planet correspond to the jets; the cylinders themselves are observed as zones and belts. . The deep model easily explains the strong prograde jet observed at the equator of Jupiter; the jets it produces are stable and do not obey the 2D stability criterion. The driving of deep circulation is another problem. The deep flows can be caused both by shallow forces (moist convection, for instance) or by deep planet-wide convection that transports heat out of the Jovian interior. Which of these mechanisms is more important is not clear yet. == Moist-convection and Y-shaped Structures on Jupiter's Equatorial Zone ==

Numerical simulations suggest that deep convection on Jupiter is primarily triggered by water condensation occurring at pressure levels ranging from approximately to . At the upper altitudes of these convective plumes, where the pressure is a few hundred millibars, condensates such as , , and water are likely to form. In contrast, at pressures exceeding , water becomes the dominant condensate. Global climate model (GCM) simulations using Jupiter-DYNAMICO indicate weaker convective activity in the equatorial regions compared to mid- to high latitudes, consistent with lightning observations. It is also possible that during strong storms on Jupiter, ammonia vapor dissolves into lofted water ice at pressures between , forming a low-temperature liquid mixture of ammonia and water. This process facilitates the formation of ammonia-rich mushballs that transport ammonia to deeper layers of the atmosphere. A possible mechanism for the formation of Y-shaped structures on Jupiter's equator is that Y-shaped structures are driven by equatorial modons coupled with convectively baroclinic Kelvin waves (CCBCKWs). This mechanism suggests that Y-shaped structures result from large-scale localized heating in a diabatic environment, which, upon reaching a critical threshold of negative pressure or positive buoyancy anomaly, generates a hybrid structure. This hybrid structure consists of a quasi equatorial modon, a coherent dipolar structure, coupled with a CCBCKW that propagates eastward in a self-sustaining and self-propelled manner. Initially, the hybrid moves steadily eastward; however, the larger phase speed of the CCBCKW eventually leads to its detachment from the quasi equatorial modon. The lifetime of this coupled structure varies from interseasonal to seasonal timescales. Moist convection is a necessary condition for triggering the eastward-propagating structure. Internal heat As has been known since 1966, Jupiter radiates much more heat than it receives from the Sun. It is estimated that the ratio of the thermal power emitted by the planet to the thermal power absorbed from the Sun is . The internal heat flux from Jupiter is , whereas the total emitted power is . The latter value is approximately equal to one billionth of the total power radiated by the Sun. This excess heat is mainly the primordial heat from the early phases of Jupiter's formation, but may result in part from the precipitation of helium into the core. The internal heat may be important for the dynamics of the Jovian atmosphere. While Jupiter has a small obliquity of about 3°, and its poles receive much less solar radiation than its equator, the tropospheric temperatures do not change appreciably from the equator to poles. One explanation is that Jupiter's convective interior acts like a thermostat, releasing more heat near the poles than in the equatorial region. This leads to a uniform temperature in the troposphere. While heat is transported from the equator to the poles mainly via the atmosphere on Earth, on Jupiter deep convection equilibrates heat. The convection in the Jovian interior is thought to be driven mainly by the internal heat. == Discrete features ==

Vortices '' IR view of Jupiter's atmosphere, false color The atmosphere of Jupiter is home to hundreds of vortices—circular rotating structures that, as in the Earth's atmosphere, can be divided into two classes: cyclones and anticyclones. Cyclones rotate in the direction similar to the rotation of the planet (counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern); anticyclones rotate in the reverse direction. However, unlike in the terrestrial atmosphere, anticyclones predominate over cyclones on Jupiter—more than 90% of vortices larger than in diameter are anticyclones. The lifetime of Jovian vortices varies from several days to hundreds of years, depending on their size. For instance, the average lifetime of an anticyclone between in diameter is 1–3 years. Vortices have never been observed in the equatorial region of Jupiter (within 10° of latitude), where they are unstable. As on any rapidly rotating planet, Jupiter's anticyclones are high pressure centers, while cyclones are low pressure. ''; October 2017) The anticyclones in Jupiter's atmosphere are always confined within zones, where the wind speed increases in direction from the equator to the poles. However Jupiter has two anticyclones that are somewhat different from all others. They are the Great Red Spot (GRS) and the Oval BA; the latter formed only in 2000. In contrast to white ovals, these structures are red, arguably due to dredging up of red material from the planet's depths. The Great Red Spot (GRS) is a persistent anticyclonic storm, 22° south of Jupiter's equator; observations from Earth establish a minimum storm lifetime of 350 years. A storm was described as a "permanent spot" by Gian Domenico Cassini after observing the feature in July 1665 with his instrument-maker Eustachio Divini. According to a report by Giovanni Battista Riccioli in 1635, Leander Bandtius, whom Riccioli identified as the Abbot of Dunisburgh who possessed an "extraordinary telescope", observed a large spot that he described as "oval, equaling one seventh of Jupiter's diameter at its longest." According to Riccioli, "these features are seldom able to be seen, and then only by a telescope of exceptional quality and magnification". The Great Spot has been continually observed since the 1870s, however. The GRS rotates counter-clockwise, with a period of about six Earth days or 14 Jovian days. Its dimensions are east-to-west and north-to-south. The spot is large enough to contain two or three planets the size of Earth. At the start of 2004, the Great Red Spot had approximately half the longitudinal extent it had a century ago, when it was in diameter. At the present rate of reduction, it could potentially become circular by 2040, although this is unlikely because of the distortion effect of the neighboring jet streams. It is not known how long the spot will last, or whether the change is a result of normal fluctuations. According to a study by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, between 1996 and 2006 the spot lost 15 percent of its diameter along its major axis. Xylar Asay-Davis, who was on the team that conducted the study, noted that the spot is not disappearing because "velocity is a more robust measurement because the clouds associated with the Red Spot are also strongly influenced by numerous other phenomena in the surrounding atmosphere." Infrared data have long indicated that the Great Red Spot is colder (and thus, higher in altitude) than most of the other clouds on the planet; the cloudtops of the GRS are about above the surrounding clouds. Furthermore, careful tracking of atmospheric features revealed the spot's counterclockwise circulation as far back as 1966 – observations dramatically confirmed by the first time-lapse movies from the Voyager flybys. The spot is spatially confined by a modest eastward jet stream (prograde) to its south and a very strong westward (retrograde) one to its north. Though winds around the edge of the spot peak at about , currents inside it seem stagnant, with little inflow or outflow. The rotation period of the spot has decreased with time, perhaps as a direct result of its steady reduction in size. In 2010, astronomers imaged the GRS in the far infrared (from ) with a spatial resolution higher than ever before and found that its central, reddest region is warmer than its surroundings by between . The warm airmass is located in the upper troposphere in the pressure range of . This warm central spot slowly counter-rotates and may be caused by a weak subsidence of air in the center of GRS. The Great Red Spot's latitude has been stable for the duration of good observational records, typically varying by about a degree. Its longitude, however, is subject to constant variation. Because Jupiter's visible features do not rotate uniformly at all latitudes, astronomers have defined three different systems for defining the longitude. System II is used for latitudes of more than 10°, and was originally based on the average rotation rate of the Great Red Spot of 9h 55m 42s. Despite this, the spot has "lapped" the planet in System II at least 10 times since the early 19th century. Its drift rate has changed dramatically over the years and has been linked to the brightness of the South Equatorial Belt, and the presence or absence of a South Tropical Disturbance. It is not known exactly what causes the Great Red Spot's reddish color. Theories supported by laboratory experiments suppose that the color may be caused by complex organic molecules, red phosphorus, or yet another sulfur compound. The GRS varies greatly in hue, from almost brick-red to pale salmon, or even white. The higher temperature of the reddest central region is the first evidence that the Spot's color is affected by environmental factors. The spot occasionally disappears from the visible spectrum, becoming evident only through the Red Spot Hollow, which is its niche in the South Equatorial Belt (SEB). The visibility of GRS is apparently coupled to the appearance of the SEB; when the belt is bright white, the spot tends to be dark, and when it is dark, the spot is usually light. The periods when the spot is dark or light occur at irregular intervals; in the 50 years from 1947 to 1997, the spot was darkest in the periods 1961–1966, 1968–1975, 1989–1990, and 1992–1993. In November 2014, an analysis of data from NASA's Cassini mission revealed that the red color is likely a product of simple chemicals being broken apart by solar ultraviolet irradiation in the planet's upper atmosphere. The Great Red Spot should not be confused with the Great Dark Spot, a feature observed near Jupiter's north pole (bottom) in 2000 by the Cassini–Huygens spacecraft. A feature in the atmosphere of Neptune was also called the Great Dark Spot. The latter feature, imaged by Voyager 2 in 1989, may have been an atmospheric hole rather than a storm. It was no longer present in 1994, although a similar spot had appeared farther to the north. Oval BA Oval BA is a red storm in Jupiter's southern hemisphere similar in form to, though smaller than, the Great Red Spot (it is often affectionately referred to as "Red Spot Jr.", "Red Jr." or "The Little Red Spot"). A feature in the South Temperate Belt, Oval BA was first seen in 2000 after the collision of three small white storms, and has intensified since then. The formation of the three white oval storms that later merged into Oval BA can be traced to 1939, when the South Temperate Zone was torn by dark features that effectively split the zone into three long sections. Jovian observer Elmer J. Reese labeled the dark sections AB, CD, and EF. The rifts expanded, shrinking the remaining segments of the STZ into the white ovals FA, BC, and DE. Ovals BC and DE merged in 1998, forming Oval BE. Then, in March 2000, BE and FA joined, forming Oval BA . Oval BA slowly began to turn red in August 2005. On February 24, 2006, amateur astronomer Christopher Go discovered the color change, noting that it had reached the same shade as the GRS. As a result, NASA writer Dr. Tony Phillips suggested it be called "Red Spot Jr." or "Red Jr." In April 2006, a team of astronomers, believing that Oval BA might converge with the GRS that year, observed the storms through the Hubble Space Telescope. The storms pass each other about every two years, but the passings of 2002 and 2004 did not produce anything exciting. Dr. Amy Simon-Miller, of the Goddard Space Flight Center, predicted the storms would have their closest passing on July 4, 2006. Why Oval BA turned red is not well understood. According to a 2008 study by Dr. Santiago Pérez-Hoyos of the University of the Basque Country, the most likely mechanism is "an upward and inward diffusion of either a colored compound or a coating vapor that may interact later with high energy solar photons at the upper levels of Oval BA." Some believe that small storms (and their corresponding white spots) on Jupiter turn red when the winds become powerful enough to draw certain gases from deeper within the atmosphere which change color when those gases are exposed to sunlight. Oval BA is getting stronger according to observations made with the Hubble Space Telescope in 2007. The wind speeds have reached ; about the same as in the Great Red Spot and far stronger than any of the progenitor storms. As of July 2008, its size was about the diameter of Earth—approximately half the size of the Great Red Spot. Oval BA should not be confused with another major storm on Jupiter, the South Tropical Little Red Spot (LRS) (nicknamed "the Baby Red Spot" by NASA), which was destroyed by the GRS. The Baby Red Spot encountered the GRS in late June to early July 2008, and in the course of a collision, the smaller red spot was shredded into pieces. The remnants of the Baby Red Spot first orbited, then were later consumed by the GRS. The last of the remnants with a reddish color to have been identified by astronomers had disappeared by mid-July, and the remaining pieces again collided with the GRS, then finally merged with the bigger storm. The remaining pieces of the Baby Red Spot had completely disappeared by August 2008. During this encounter Oval BA was present nearby, but played no apparent role in the destruction of the Baby Red Spot. Storms and lightning . False color image. The storms on Jupiter are similar to thunderstorms on Earth. They reveal themselves via bright clumpy clouds about in size, which appear from time to time in the belts' cyclonic regions, especially within the strong westward (retrograde) jets. In contrast to vortices, storms are short-lived phenomena; the strongest of them may exist for several months, while the average lifetime is only 3–4 days. On Jupiter lightning strikes are on average a few times more powerful than those on Earth. However, they are less frequent; the light power emitted from a given area is similar to that on Earth. A few flashes have been detected in polar regions, making Jupiter the second known planet after Earth to exhibit polar lightning. A Microwave Radiometer (Juno) detected many more in 2018. Every 15–17 years Jupiter is marked by especially powerful storms. They appear at 23°N latitude, where the strongest eastward jet, that can reach , is located. The last time such an event was observed was in March–June 2007. Two storms appeared in the northern temperate belt 55° apart in longitude. They significantly disturbed the belt. The dark material that was shed by the storms mixed with clouds and changed the belt's color. The storms moved with a speed as high as , slightly faster than the jet itself, hinting at the existence of strong winds deep in the atmosphere. Circumpolar cyclones ed JIRAM image of southern CPCs Other notable features of Jupiter are its cyclones near the northern and southern poles of the planet. These are called circumpolar cyclones (CPCs) and they have been observed by the Juno Spacecraft using JunoCam and JIRAM. The cyclones have now been observed for about 5 years, as Juno completed 39 orbits around Jupiter. The northern pole has eight cyclones moving around a central cyclone (NPC) while the southern pole only has five cyclones around a central cyclone (SPC), with a gap between the first and second cyclones. The cyclones look like the hurricanes on Earth with trailing spiral arms and a denser center, although there are differences between the centers depending on the individual cyclone. Northern CPCs generally maintain their shape and position compared to the southern CPCs and this could be due to the faster wind speeds that are experienced in the south, where the maximum wind velocities are around . Although there is more movement among the southern CPCs they tend to retain the pentagonal structure relative to the pole. It has also been observed that the angular wind velocity increases as the center is approached and radius becomes smaller, except for one cyclone in the north, which may have rotation in the opposite direction. The difference in the number of cyclones in the north compared to the south is probably due to the size of the cyclones. The southern CPCs tend to be bigger with radii ranging from while northern CPCs range from . The mechanism for the stability of these two symmetric structures of cyclones is an outcome of Beta-drift, a known effect causing cyclones to move poleward and anti-cyclones to move equatorward due to the conservation of momentum along streamlines in a vortex, under the change of the Coriolis parameter. Thus, cyclones forming in the polar regions may congregate at the pole and form a polar cyclone such as those observed on Saturn's poles. The polar cyclone (the central cyclone in the polygons) also emit a vorticity field which can repel other cyclones (see Fujiwhara effect) similar to the beta-effect. The latitude where the circumpolar cyclones are positioned (~84°) fits, in calculations, the hypothesis that the poleward beta-drift force balances the equatorward rejection of the polar cyclone on the circumpolar cyclones, assuming they have an anticyclonic ring around them, consistent with model simulations and observations. The northern cyclones tend to maintain an octagonal structure with the NPC as a center point. Northern cyclones have less data than southern cyclones because of limited illumination in the north-polar winter, making it difficult for JunoCam to obtain accurate measurements of northern CPC positions at each perijove (53 days), but JIRAM is able to collect enough data to understand the northern CPCs. The limited illumination makes it difficult to see the northern central cyclone, but by making four orbits, the NPC can be partially seen and the octagonal structure of the cyclones can be identified. Limited illumination also makes it difficult to view the motion of the cyclones, but early observations show that the NPC is offset from the pole by about 0.5° and the CPCs generally maintained their position around the center. Despite data being harder to obtain, it has been observed that the northern CPCs have a drift rate of about 1° to 2.5° per perijove to the west. The seventh cyclone in the north (n7) drifts a little more than the others and this is due to an anticyclonic white oval (AWO) that pulls it farther from the NPC, which causes the octagonal shape to be slightly distorted. The instantaneous locations of the south polar cyclones have been tracked for 5 years by the JIRAM instrument and by JunoCam. The locations over time were revealed to form an oscillatory motion of each of the 6 cyclones, with periods of approximately one (Earth) year and radii of about . These oscillations around the CPCs' mean positions were explained to be a result of imbalances between the beta-drift, pulling the CPCs toward the pole and the rejection forces that develop due to the interactions between the cyclones, similar to a 6-body spring system. In addition to this periodic motion, the south polar cyclones were observed to drift westward by . The reason for this drift is still unknown. The circumpolar cyclones have different morphologies, especially in the north, where cyclones have a "filled" or "chaotic" structure. The inner part of the "chaotic" cyclones have small-scale cloud streaks and flecks. The "filled" cyclones have a sharply-bound, lobate area that is bright white near the edge with a dark inner portion. There are four "filled" cyclones and four "chaotic" cyclones in the north. The southern cyclones all have an extensive fine-scale spiral structure on their outside but they all differ in size and shape. There is very little observation of the cyclones due to low sun angles and a haze that is typically over the atmosphere but what little has been observed shows the cyclones to be a reddish color. Disturbances The normal pattern of bands and zones is sometimes disrupted for periods of time. One particular class of disruption are long-lived darkenings of the South Tropical Zone, normally referred to as "South Tropical Disturbances" (STD). The longest lived STD in recorded history was followed from 1901 until 1939, having been first seen by Percy B. Molesworth on February 28, 1901. It took the form of darkening over part of the normally bright South Tropical zone. Several similar disturbances in the South Tropical Zone have been recorded since then. Hot spots Some of the most mysterious features in the atmosphere of Jupiter are hot spots. In them, the air is relatively free of clouds and heat can escape from the depths without much absorption. The spots look like bright spots in the infrared images obtained at the wavelength of about 5 μm. They are preferentially located in the belts, although there is a train of prominent hot spots at the northern edge of the Equatorial Zone. The Galileo Probe descended into one of those equatorial spots. Each equatorial spot is associated with a bright cloudy plume located to the west of it and reaching up to in size. Hot spots generally have round shapes, although they do not resemble vortices. The origin of hot spots is not clear. They can be either downdrafts, where the descending air is adiabatically heated and dried or, alternatively, they can be a manifestation of planetary scale waves. The latter hypotheses explains the periodical pattern of the equatorial spots. The possibility of life In 1953, the Miller–Urey experiment proved that the combination of lightning and compounds existing in the primitive Earth's atmosphere can form organic matter (including amino acids), which can be used as the cornerstone of life. The simulated atmosphere consists of water, methane, ammonia and hydrogen molecules; all of these substances are found in today's Jupiter atmosphere. Jupiter's atmosphere has a strong vertical air flow that carries these compounds into lower regions. But there are higher temperatures inside Jupiter, which will decompose these chemicals and hinder the formation of life similar to Earth. This was speculated by Carl Sagan and Edwin E. Salpeter. == Observational history ==

'' to Jupiter, 1979. Early modern astronomers, using small telescopes, recorded the changing appearance of Jupiter's atmosphere. Their descriptive terms—belts and zones, brown spots and red spots, plumes, barges, festoons, and streamers—are still used. Other terms such as vorticity, vertical motion, cloud heights have entered in use later, in the 20th century. The first observations of the Jovian atmosphere at higher resolution than possible with Earth-based telescopes were taken by the Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 spacecraft. The first truly detailed images of Jupiter's atmosphere were provided by the Voyagers. The two spacecraft were able to image details at a resolution as low as in size in various spectra, and also able to create "approach movies" of the atmosphere in motion. The Galileo Probe, which suffered an antenna problem, saw less of Jupiter's atmosphere but at a better average resolution and a wider spectral bandwidth. Today, astronomers have access to a continuous record of Jupiter's atmospheric activity thanks to telescopes such as Hubble Space Telescope. These show that the atmosphere is occasionally wracked by massive disturbances, but that, overall, it is remarkably stable. The vertical motion of Jupiter's atmosphere was largely determined by the identification of trace gases by ground-based telescopes. Spectroscopic studies after the collision of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 gave a glimpse of Jupiter's composition beneath the cloud tops. The presence of diatomic sulfur () and carbon disulfide () was recorded—the first detection of either in Jupiter, and only the second detection of in any astronomical object—together with other molecules such as ammonia () and hydrogen sulfide (), while oxygen-bearing molecules such as sulfur dioxide were not detected, to the surprise of astronomers. The Galileo atmospheric probe, as it plunged into Jupiter, measured the wind, temperature, composition, clouds, and radiation levels down to . However, below elsewhere on Jupiter there is uncertainty in the quantities. Great Red Spot studies '' in 1979. The first sighting of the GRS is often credited to Robert Hooke, who described a spot on the planet in May 1664; however, it is likely that Hooke's spot was in the wrong belt altogether (the North Equatorial Belt, versus the current location in the South Equatorial Belt). Much more convincing is Giovanni Cassini's description of a "permanent spot" in the following year. With fluctuations in visibility, Cassini's spot was observed from 1665 to 1713. A minor mystery concerns a Jovian spot depicted around 1700 on a canvas by Donato Creti, which is exhibited in the Vatican. It is a part of a series of panels in which different (magnified) heavenly bodies serve as backdrops for various Italian scenes, the creation of all of them overseen by the astronomer Eustachio Manfredi for accuracy. Creti's painting is the first known to depict the GRS as red. No Jovian feature was officially described as red before the late 19th century. The present GRS was first seen only after 1830 and well-studied only after a prominent apparition in 1879. A 118-year gap separates the observations made after 1830 from its 17th-century discovery; whether the original spot dissipated and re-formed, whether it faded, or even if the observational record was simply poor are unknown. The older spots had a short observational history and slower motion than that of the modern spot, which make their identity unlikely. took the GRS region at its smallest size ever. Color and contrast are highly exaggerated. On February 25, 1979, when the Voyager 1 spacecraft was 9.2 million kilometers from Jupiter it transmitted the first detailed image of the Great Red Spot back to Earth. Cloud details as small as across were visible. The colorful, wavy cloud pattern seen to the west (left) of the GRS is the spot's wake region, where extraordinarily complex and variable cloud motions are observed. White ovals in the South Temperate Zone in 1997 A trio of long-lived white ovals formed around 1940 in the South Temperate Zone. In 1939 three small dark segments developed in the STZ, dividing it into three long lighter-colored bands. The dark segments quickly expanded, and over the 1940s the white regions shrunk to ovals. Elmer J. Reese named the dark segments AB, CD, and EF, and the white segments between them BC, DE, and FA. In the early 1940s, the white segments shrank to ovals which spanned a region of roughly 90 degrees of longitude, and were referred to as 'white ovals'. The ovals contracted rapidly during their first decade, then more slowly, finally settling to a stable region 10 degrees wide by 1965. As they shrank, they migrated north and became embedded in the South Temperate Belt, "digging" a niche in the STB. Indeed, much like the GRS, their circulations were confined by two opposing jet streams on their northern and southern boundaries, with an eastward jet to their north and a retrograde westward one to the south. The longitudinal movement of the ovals seemed to be influenced by two factors: Jupiter's position in its orbit (they became faster at aphelion), and their proximity to the GRS (they accelerated when within 50 degrees of the Spot). The overall trend of the white oval drift rate was deceleration, with a decrease by half between 1940 and 1990. During the Voyager fly-bys, the ovals extended roughly from east to west, from north to south, and rotated every five days (compared to six for the GRS at the time). Starting in 1998, the three ovals began to merge together. First ovals DE and FA merged into oval DA, and then in 2000 ovals BC and DA merged into oval BA. == See also ==

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