Jupiter's north pole, like its south pole, has a bluer surface color than the rest of Jupiter.
Like the South Pole, it was first imaged with the Juno probe entering the polar orbit of Jupiter in July 2016. At the same time was discovered its polar cyclone, measuring just over 3000 km, surrounded by eight smaller cyclones (2400–2800 km in diameter, that is almost half the size of the South Pole cyclones), forming a close to regular 8-corner. All of them are twisted counterclockwise.
In contrast to the South Pole, where in 2019 to the five peripheral cyclones added a sixth, at the North Pole this structure of "1+8", at least until the end of 2020, remained stable. As studies have shown, its stability is provided by the tendency of peripheral cyclones to repel each other and move toward the pole, while the central cyclone tends to repel them all.[1]
Three peripheral cyclones (the 2nd, 6th, and 8th) are close to the background in brightness, and the other 5 are lighter. Several smaller cyclones up to 1000 km in diameter, some of which also rotate clockwise, circle around them.
The temperature of the upper atmosphere in this region is about -83...-13 °C[2]
When the Juno arrived at Jupiter, its North Pole was immersed in the darkness of polar night, so its first pictures were only infrared, and only when sunlight shifted to the Northern Hemisphere, it was possible to see all its cyclones in the light of the Sun, and to make one complete picture of the pole the apparatus requires four approaches to it.[3]
At the North Pole of Jupiter there is a large X-ray spot, discovered in 2000, pulsating with a period of about 45 minutes (there is a similar spot at the South Pole, but it is much smaller). Explanation of this phenomenon has not yet been found.[4]
Notes
- ^ Margetta, Robert (2021-10-28). "NASA's Juno: Science Results Offer First 3D View of Jupiter Atmosphere". NASA. Retrieved 2021-11-13.
- ^ "Полет над северным полюсом Юпитера: видео". Популярная механика (in Russian). Retrieved 2021-11-13.
- ^ https://jpl.nasa.gov. "All Eight Northern Circumpolar Cyclones in 2020". NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Retrieved 2021-11-13.
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- ^ "Астронет > Большое рентгеновское пятно на Юпитере". www.astronet.ru. Retrieved 2021-11-13.