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Thibault Cavalié, from the Laboratory of Astrophysics in Bordeaux, studied the winds in Jupiter’s central atmosphere directly, using the Large Millimeter / Submillimeter Network in Atacama, Chile, reports Phys.org. The new study is the first to present this kind of observation.
Experts have analyzed the effects of a previous collision. According to the results, winds of astonishing force of 1450 kilometers per hour blow at the planet’s poles. According to the team, such streams are special weather monsters of the Solar System.
The atmospheric phenomena of Jupiter are well known, but until now it has not been possible to study the speed of the winds that hit the stratosphere directly. Since there are no clouds in this layer, the researchers had to find an alternative solution for the observation. Experts began to analyze the tracks of 9 comets in Shoemaker-Levy, an object that struck the planet in 1994. As a result of the collision, new molecules appeared in the atmosphere, which are still carried by the winds.
The team focused on hydrogen cyanide, the material was able to trace currents in Jupiter’s stratosphere. According to Cavalié, the measured wind speed is more than twice the maximum value measured in the famous Great Red Spot of the gas giant. The currents behave like huge vortices, sometimes up to four times the diameter of the Earth, and can have a vertical extension of up to 900 kilometers.
The researchers also studied the area around the equator, where the average wind speed is 600 kilometers per hour.
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