Vortices
The atmosphere of Jupiter is home to hundreds of
vortices
—circular rotating structures that, as in
the Earth’s atmosphere, can be divided into two classes:
cyclones
and
anticyclones
.
[7]
The former
rotate in the direction similar to the rotation of the planet (
counterclockwise
in the northern
hemisphere and
clockwise
in the southern); the latter rotate in the reverse direction. However a
major difference from the
terrestrial atmosphere
is that, in the Jovian atmosphere, anticyclones
dominate over cyclones, as more than 90% of vortices larger than 2000 km in diameter are
anticyclones.
[61]
The lifetime of vortices varies from several days to hundreds of years depending
on their size. For instance, the average lifetime of anticyclones with diameters from 1000 to
6000 km is 1–3 years.
[62]
Vortices have never been observed in the equatorial region of Jupiter
(within 10° of latitude), where they are unstable.
[10]
As on any rapidly rotating planet, Jupiter's
anticyclones are high
pressure
centers, while cyclones are low pressure.
This
preview
has intentionally blurred sections.
Sign up to view the full version.

This is the end of the preview.
Sign up
to
access the rest of the document.
- Fall '10
- EmilyHoward
- Astronomy, Equator, cyclones, long–lived large cyclones, white ovals
-
Click to edit the document details