Jupiter is a planet of storms, but also a planet of mysteries. How can an expanse of the gas giant that goes with plots become a desert?
Expect anything from a famous (or infamous) planet to things like the Great Red Spot and a strange, stormy pentagon that could pass for the creation of UFOs. The “hot spots” of Jupiter (the first view from NASA’s Galileo probe) were an enigma that has remained in the dark until now. Now her Juno probe has had another look. Previously they were thought to be local deserts. What Juno brings back suggests that these hot spots, which shine brightly in the infrared, may not be different from the rest of Jupiter – at least in part Jupiter in which they are. That whole area of the desert is cosmic.
Galileo turned away without even knowing it. Since it fell into one of the hot spots in the northern equatorial region of Jupiter and found it so dry and windy, astronauts back on Earth automatically accepted it. each hot spot as its own local desert. They go much deeper and beyond, if you ask fellow researcher Juno Tristan Guillot.
“We see that there is an abundance of ammonia in the whole area and realize that the hot spots could just be clearing in the clouds,” Guillot told SYFY WIRE. “The storms we see on images must JunoCam to bring down both ammonia and water deeply. , not only where the hot spots are, but everywhere around those latitudes. “
Juno has discovered that the hot spots have something to crack in Jupiter’s thick clouds, which could allow the peer probe into the depths of the Jovian atmosphere where it is hotter and drier than anywhere else. Another thing Juno saw was that something called shallow lightning was being powered by these desert storms. For lightning to form, liquids must be in the atmosphere to increase grains and shift cost. Rough lightning is so rare because it can occur at atmospheric levels that are too cold to keep water in its melting state. This is where ammonia comes into play. If you mix water and ammonia, you can keep water running so that lightning can ignite even in such a deep frost.
He will only get a stranger from here. Juno’s microwave instrument can no longer see water and ammonia when they come together. Not only that, but they also produce an alien hailstone called a mushroom. Gargantuan storms caused by water condense much deeper into the atmosphere causing mushroom formation. Rough lightning literally illuminates where these storms are forming, something that may help with understanding how heat moves around inside the planet. If humans could survive on Jupiter, shallow lightning would be a sad sign of incoming mushrooms.
“Mushrooms show that Jupiter’s feeling is very different than expected,” Guillot said. “Instead of being unstable and unanimously mixed, we now see the deep atmosphere as generally stable, with an increase in ammonia and plenty of water as you go deeper. . ”
When mushrooms grow heavy enough, they fall through the atmosphere and leave behind an area virtually devoid of ammonia and water. They have to melt and evacuate for the ammonia and water to become gas again and thus, once again more visible to Juno. Guillot sees the transport of ammonia and water in Jovian storms as the same as adding milk to water without mixing the elevators. The milk sinks to the bottom of the glass just as water and ammonia pass through Jupiter’s atmosphere during a storm. The difference is that, unlike glass, Jupiter does not have a familiar base or surface. How deep ammonia and water have to sink is something that needs to be explored further. He could sink to an idea all the way. Nobody knows.
What the Juno team needs to do now is to find out how effective mushroom creation is, and how to apply it to Juno data. The probe has already allowed Juno’s team to get an idea of the amount of water hiding deep in Jupiter’s atmosphere. For a more accurate estimate, they need to understand how water makes its way to the depths of other regions. Juno may explain that as he gradually moves towards the north pole of Jupiter, which is thought to have very different buildings that could tell him even more. Guillot and colleagues about Jovian’s strange weather.
“Our research has a wide-ranging impact,” he said. “All the planets in our solar system, as well as exoplanets, have a very light atmosphere. The same process can occur when elements condense in these atmospheres. Understanding what is happening in Jupiter will be crucial when applying our models to interpret an exoplanetary spectrum that will soon be measured by the James Webb Space Telescope. ”