Vortices - Vortices The atmosphere of Jupiter is home to hundreds of vorticescircular rotating structures that as in the Earths atmosphere can be

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.