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NASA/JPL/Cassini/University of Arizona
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Many pictures of Jupiter reveal its cloud bands, the Great Red Spot, and other large weather features. But nearer to its poles, the gas giant planet takes on a different and inexplicable look.
This picture, taken by the Cassini spacecraft before it flew past Jupiter en route to Saturn, reveals the intricate structures of the northern Jovian clouds. The colors are true, but the Cassini imaging team enhanced the contrast to bring the strange features out.
The different structures are clouds of different chemical composition, different height, and different thicknesses. While winds at Jupiter's equator can exceed 300 mph (483 kilometers per hour), they are less severe nearer the poles. Yet wind near the poles tends to swirl more, in vortex motions. Nobody knows why.
One possible explanation is that compared to Earth, where the Sun's energy is the root of all wind, Jupiter's clouds are more effected by heat generated internally. The internal heat might be greater near the poles, scientists say, which would create more convection there. This rising action would then generate more vortexes, just as rising air on Earth creates tornadoes and hurricanes.
The spacecraft was 11.8million miles (19.0 million kilometers) away when it collected the data for this image on Dec. 13, 2000.
-- Robert Roy Britt
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