An amazing new Nasa animation reveals a glimpse of what it would be like to dive into Jupiter’s hellish North Pole.
The flyby gives viewers a close-up of the ‘lava-like’ cyclones that whip across the planet’s polar regions, boasting wind speeds as high as 220 miles per hour (350 kph).
Each cyclone ranges from 2,500 to 2,900 miles (4,000 to 4,600km) in diameter.
Unveiled at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly in Vienna, Austria, the 80-second flyby was put together using images taken by Nasa’s Juno probe, which is currently orbiting Jupiter.
Cameras aboard the £0.8 billion ($1.1 billion) spacecraft captured the planet’s stormy poles in infrared light, which is invisible to human eyes, as part of ongoing research into the mysteries of Jupiter’s inner workings.
Recorded by the probe’s Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper, or JIRAM, the infrared images allowed Nasa researchers to peer at polar cloud formations 45 miles (72 km) below the planet’s cloud tops.
‘Before Juno, we could only guess what Jupiter’s poles would look like,’ Dr Alberto Adriani, a Juno team member at Rome’s Institute for Space Astrophysics and Planetology, said.
‘Now, with Juno flying over the poles at a close distance it permits the collection of infrared imagery on Jupiter’s polar weather patterns and its massive cyclones in unprecedented spatial resolution.’
The images unveiled the shape and structure of the nine icy cyclones at Jupiter’s North Pole.
Dark red clouds in the animation were measured at -188°C (181°F), while bright yellow clouds clocked in at -12°C (9°F), according to Nasa.
Juno captured the images during its during its fourth close flyby of the planet, which sits 600 million miles (970 million km) from Earth.
Unveiled at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly in Vienna, Austria, the 80-second flyby was put together using images taken by Nasa’s Juno probe, which is currently orbiting Jupiter
Cameras aboard the £0.8 billion ($1.1 billion) spacecraft captured the planet’s stormy poles in infrared light, which is invisible to human eyes, as part of ongoing research into the mysteries of Jupiter’s inner workings
Recorded by the probe’s Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper, or JIRAM, the infrared images allowed Nasa researchers to peer at polar cloud formations 45 miles (72 km) below the planet’s cloud tops
WHAT IS NASA’S JUNO MISSION TO JUPITER?
The Juno probe reached Jupiter last year after a five-year, 1.8 billion-mile journey from Earth
The Juno probe reached Jupiter on July 4, 2016, after a five-year, 1.8 billion-mile journey from Earth.
Following a successful braking manoeuvre, it entered into a long polar orbit flying to within 3,100 miles (5,000 km) of the planet’s swirling cloud tops.
The probe will skim to within just 4,200 km of the planet’s clouds once a fortnight – too close to provide global coverage in a single image.
No previous spacecraft has orbited so close to Jupiter, although two others have been sent plunging to their destruction through its atmosphere.
To complete its risky mission Juno will have to survive a circuit-frying radiation storm generated by Jupiter’s powerful magnetic field.
The maelstrom of high energy particles travelling at nearly the speed of light is the harshest radiation environment in the Solar System.
To cope with the conditions, the spacecraft is protected with special radiation-hardened wiring and sensor shielding.
Its all-important ‘brain’ – the spacecraft’s flight computer – is housed in an armoured vault made of titanium and weighing almost 400 pounds (172kg).
So far, Juno has mapped about a third of Jupiter, a planet that was shrouded in mystery before the spacecraft entered its orbit in 2016.
Having travelled some 122 million miles during 11 close passes, Juno will swoop in for its twelfth flyby on May 24.
Experts studying data gathered by the probe found patterned cyclones and jet streams that extend 1,800 miles (2,900 km) below cloud level on the gas giant.
At each of the planet’s poles is a cyclone several thousand miles wide. The study found that these cyclones are surrounded by a polygonal arrangement of storms – eight in the north and five in the south.
The findings, which revealed in unprecedented detail the interior of the planet, could lead to a breakthrough in our understanding of the dynamics at work inside the atmosphere of gas giants.
The images unveiled the shape and structure of the nine icy cyclones at Jupiter’s North Pole. Dark red clouds (pictured) in the animation were measured at -188°C (181°F), while bright yellow clouds clocked in at -12°C (9°F), according to Nasa
At each of Jupiter’s (left) poles is a cyclone several thousand miles wide. These cyclones are surrounded by a polygonal arrangement of storms – eight in the north (right) and five in the south
Four international teams of researchers, including experts from Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, analysed high precision readings taken by the Juno probe.
Powerful winds were found to flow in opposite directions on the surface of Jupiter, reaching speeds of more than 100 metres per second (220 mph / 360 kmh).
Exactly how this leads to the alternating bright and dark bands of gas with their swirling storms that are visible from the surface is unclear, but Juno’s observations have helped to shed light on this.
Raging storms on Jupiter have long captured the imagination of mankind and a study published in March revealed the depths to which these fiery events extend. This picture of Jupiter’s south pole is a mosaic of images acquired by Nasa’s Juno probe. It shows the heat coming out from the planet through the clouds. Thinner clouds are yellow and dark red are the thicker ones
The probe’s readings seem to suggest, as some had suspected, that they have their origins deep within the huge planet.
A solid mass of hydrogen and helium gas rotating as a solid body deep within the planet causes variations in wind at the surface.
This alters the gravity of the planet and leads to an imbalance between the northern and southern hemispheres
If these findings can also be observed inside neighbouring Saturn, it would suggest that the mechanism behind them are widespread among this class of planet.
Four international teams of researchers, including experts from Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, analysed readings taken by the probe. Bands of vast swirling cloud formations that speed over the gas giant planet’s surface are clearly visible in this amazing image
Nasa’s Cassini mission to Saturn, which ended in 2017, provided similar data set for Saturn’s gravitational field that is now being analysed, says Professor Jonathan Fortney, from the department of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of California.
‘Given the inherent complexity of planets, comparative planetary science has become an essential framework through which to study these astrophysical objects,’ he said in a comment piece for the journal Nature.
‘Thankfully, Jupiter has a sibling, the gas-giant planet Saturn.
‘If a consistent physical picture could be put together for the two gas giants of the solar system, it would go a long way towards solidifying our understanding of the internal dynamics of this class of astrophysical object.’
Researchers found that Jupiter’s gravitational field, which is known to vary from pole to pole, is unbalanced between the north and south of the planet.
Powerful winds flow in opposite directions on the surface of Jupiter, reaching speeds of more than 100 metres per second (220 mph / 360 kmh). Juno took this image of colourful, turbulent clouds in Jupiter’s northern hemisphere on December 16, 2017, from 8,292 miles (13,345 km) above the tops of Jupiter’s clouds
This is unusual for a planet which rotates at relatively high speed.
Experts found that this imbalance is generated by differences in the speed of wind flows in the atmosphere.
These flows could only have an effect on Jupiter’s gravity if they originated from deep within its interior and involved a large amount of matter.
Juno revealed that ‘odd’ gravity events, including turbulent jet streams, stretch down to layers found at roughly one-twentieth of the planet’s radius.
Exactly how winds lead to the alternating bright and dark bands of gas with their swirling storms that are visible from the surface was unclear, but Juno’s observations have helped to shed light on this. Juno captured this image on December 16, 2017
Pressures at these depths are around 10 million times that of the atmosphere at Earth’s surface.
More ‘even’ gravity events occur below this depth. This deep interior is made up of a mixture of hydrogen and helium gas that rotates as a solid body.
This part of Jupiter’s atmosphere is made up of around one per cent of the planet’s total mass, researchers found.
On Earth, roughly one millionth of the planet’s mass makes up the atmosphere.
Energy that’s lost from this interior pushes currents upward, where they reach up to the surface. This creates the fluid-like movement observed in Jupiter’s upper atmosphere.
The studies also revealed details of the internal structure of the layers of inner atmosphere which make up 96 per cent of the planet.
Working inward from the outer atmosphere, there is first a layer composed of 99 per cent hydrogen and helium, which contains traces of ammonia and methane.
Around 20 per cent of this layer, towards the centre of the planet, is made up of helium that has condensed into rains.
Juno’s readings seem to suggest, as some had suspected, these bands of wind have their origins deep within the huge planet. Citizen scientist Kevin Gill processed this image using data from the probe’s onboard camera
The deep interior contains a thick ‘soup’ of gases which contain heavy metals, experts say. It is still not clear whether Jupiter has a solid core at its very centre.
Visible and infrared observations made by Juno of Jupiter’s polar regions also revealed that the cyclones known to exist at the planet’s poles create persistent many-sided patterns.
These often striking features have been captured in stunning images transmitted back to Earth, revealing what look like the swirls found in oil paint.
At the north pole, eight cyclones swirl around a single central cyclone, whereas the south polar cyclone is circled by five such cyclones.
The origins of these cyclones and how they persist without merging remains unknown, however.
One of the most breathtaking photos of Jupiter shows a ‘string of pearls’ – a series of eight massive rotating storms on its surface.
The image, taken on 24 October, 2017, was snapped when Juno was 20,577 miles (33,115 kilometres) above the tops of the clouds of the planet.
It was processed and colour enhanced by citizen scientists Gerald Eichstadt and Sean Doran.
Visible and infrared observations made by Juno of Jupiter’s polar regions also revealed that the cyclones known to exist at the planet’s poles create persistent many-sided patterns. This illustration depicts Juno soaring over Jupiter’s swirling cloud top
These often striking features have been captured in stunning images transmitted back to Earth, revealing what look like the swirls found in oil paint. The spacecraft captured this image, which has been colour-enhanced, while only 11,700 miles (19,000 km) from the tops of Jupiter’s clouds
This colour-enhanced image shared by Nasa at the end of last year shows cyclones on the surface of Jupiter, with a close-up of one of the ‘pearl’ storms shown in white