Related papers: Differential rotation in giant planets maintained …
The giant planet atmospheres exhibit alternating prograde (eastward) and retrograde (westward) jets of different speeds and widths, with an equatorial jet that is prograde on Jupiter and Saturn and retrograde on Uranus and Neptune. The jets…
The surface winds of Jupiter and Saturn are primarily zonal. Each planet exhibits strong prograde equatorial flow flanked by multiple alternating zonal winds at higher latitudes. The depth to which these flows penetrate has long been…
The surface of both Jupiter and Saturn has magnificent vortical storms which help shape the dynamic nature of their atmospheres. Land- and space-based observational campaigns over time have established several properties of these vortices,…
Differential rotation is central to a great many mysteries in stars and planets. In Part I we predicted the order of magnitude and scaling of the differential rotation in both hydrodynamic and magnetohydrodynamic convection zones. Our…
The expansion of the rotating fluid will change the vorticity and rotational speed of the expanding region. In turbulent thermal convection, this microscopic effect is preserved. Tracking the fluid micelles shows that the average vorticity…
Giant planets like Jupiter and Saturn feature strong zonal wind patterns on their surfaces. Although several different mechanisms that may drive these jets have been proposed over the last decades, the origin of the zonal winds is still…
Zonal flows in rapidly-rotating celestial objects such as the Sun, gas or ice giants form in a variety of surface patterns and amplitudes. Whereas the differential rotation on the Sun, Jupiter and Saturn features a super-rotating equatorial…
The surface zonal winds observed in the giant planets form a complex jet pattern with alternating prograde and retrograde direction. While the main equatorial band is prograde on the gas giants, both ice giants have a pronounced retrograde…
Contemporary three-dimensional physics-based simulations of the solar convection zone disagree with observations. They feature differential rotation substantially different from the true rotation inferred by solar helioseismology and…
A mechanism by which the surface zonal flows of giant planets can be gradually attenuated with depth is explored. The zonal flow is driven by an imposed forcing in a thin layer near the surface. A meridional circulation is set up, analogous…
The intense turbulence present in the solar convection zone is a major challenge to both theory and simulation as one tries to understand the origins of the striking differential rotation profile with radius and latitude that has been…
Meridional flow results from slight deviations from the thermal wind balance. The deviations are relatively large in the boundary layers near the top and bottom of the convection zone. Accordingly, the meridional flow attains its largest…
The Cassini and Juno probes have revealed large coherent cyclonic vortices in the polar regions of Saturn and Jupiter, a dramatic contrast from the east-west banded jet structure seen at lower latitudes. Debate has centered on whether the…
The outer areas of Jupiter and Saturn have multiple zonal winds, reaching the high latitudes, that penetrate deep into the planets' interiors, as suggested by gravity measurements. These characteristics are replicable in numerical…
Jupiter and Saturn exhibit alternating east-west jet streams as seen from surface. The origin of these zonal flows has been debated for decades. The high-precision gravity measurements by Juno mission and the grand finale of Cassini mission…
In the outer envelope of the Sun and in other stars, differential rotation and meridional circulation are maintained via the redistribution of momentum and energy by convective motions. In order to properly capture such processes in a…
Ground-based and spacecraft telescopic observations, combined with an intensive modeling effort, have greatly enhanced our understanding of hot giant planets and brown dwarfs over the past ten years. Although these objects are all fluid,…
The zonal flow in Jupiter's upper troposphere is organized into alternating retrograde and prograde jets, with a prograde (superrotating) jet at the equator. Existing models posit as the driver of the flow either differential radiative…
All planets and stars rotate. All gas planets in our solar system, the Sun, and many stars show a pattern of east- or westward mean flows. This phenomenon is known as differential rotation in the stellar and as zonal jets in the planetary…
The mean zonal flow observed on Jupiter consists of an intricate pattern of jets, or bands of zonal flow moving prograde or retrograde compared to the bulk planetary rotation. The strongest flow is a superrotating (prograde) jet near the…