June 6, 2024 This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlightedthe following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: fact-checked peer-reviewed publication trusted source proofread by University of California - San Diego New research led by Lia Siegelman, a physical oceanographer at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography, shows that the roiling storms at the planet Jupiter's polar regions are powered by processes known to physicists studying Earth's oceans and atmosphere. The geophysical commonalities spanning the 452 million miles between the two planets could even help facilitate an improved understanding of those processes on Earth.
Siegelman first made the connection between our planet and the gas giant in 2018 when she noticed a striking similarity between images of Jupiter's huge cyclones and the ocean turbulence she was studying. To a physicist, air and water are both considered fluids, so applying ocean physics to Jupiter isn't as far-fetched as it sounds, said Siegelman. "Jupiter is basically an ocean of gas.
" This initial observation led Siegelman to co-author a 2022 study published in Nature Physics that analyzed high-resolution infrared images of Jupiter's cyclones taken by NASA's Juno spacecraft. The analysis revealed that a type of convection similar to what is seen on Earth helps maintain Jupiter's storms, which can be thousands of miles wide and last for years. The 2022 stu.
