Related papers: Dynamo Action of Jupiter's Zonal Winds

Context. The tropospheric wind pattern in Jupiter consists of alternating prograde and retrograde zonal jets with typical velocities of up to 100 m/s around the equator. At much higher altitudes, in the ionosphere, strong auroral jets have…

Ultra-hot Jupiters represent an exciting avenue for testing extreme physics and observing atmospheric circulation regimes not found in our solar system. Their high temperatures result in thermally ionized particles embedded in atmospheric…

Observations of Jupiter's deep atmosphere by the Juno spacecraft have revealed several puzzling facts: The concentration of ammonia is variable down to pressures of tens of bars, and is strongly dependent on latitude. While most latitudes…

Determining the depth of atmospheric winds in the outer planets of the Solar System is a key topic in planetary science. We provide constraints on these depths in Uranus and Neptune via the total induced Ohmic dissipation, due to the…

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…

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 primordial structure of Jupiter remains uncertain, yet it holds vital clues on the planet's formation and early evolution. Recent work used dynamical constraints from Jupiter's inner moons to determine its primordial state, thereby…

This article provides an overview of how models of giant planet interiors are constructed. We review measurements from past space missions that provide constraints for the interior structure of Jupiter. We discuss typical three-layer…

Liu et al. 2008 discuss an important consideration for models of zonal winds deep within giant planets. However, the constraints they propose for the depth of the winds are based on their prescriptions for the internal structures of the…

Gas giant planets are differentially rotating magnetic objects that have strong and complex interactions with their environment. In our Solar system, they interact with their numerous moons while exoplanets with very short orbital periods…

Many hot and ultra-hot Jupiters have inflated radii, implying that their interiors retain significant entropy from formation. These hot interiors lead to an enhanced internal heat flux that impinges upon the atmosphere from below. In this…

In this paper we consider the effect of a self-consistently computed magnetosdisc field structure on the magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling current system at Jupiter. We find that the azimuthal current intensity, and thus the stretching of…

Jupiter's icy moons are believed to host subsurface liquid oceans, and among them, Europa stands out as one of the most promising candidates for extraterrestrial life. Yet, the processes driving oceanic flows beneath its ice shell, as well…

A series of numerical simulations of the dynamo process operating inside gas giant planets has been performed. We use an anelastic, fully nonlinear, three-dimensional, benchmarked MHD code to evolve the flow, entropy and magnetic field. Our…

Hot Jupiters are tidally-locked Jupiter-sized planets close to their host star. They have equilibrium temperatures above about 1000 K. Photometric observations find that the hotspot, the hottest location in the atmosphere, is shifted with…

Any nonspherical distribution of density inside planets and stars gives rise to a non-spherical external gravity and change of shape. If part or all of the observed zonal flows at the cloud deck of Jupiter and Saturn represent deep interior…

An observation of Jupiter's tidal response is anticipated for the on-going Juno spacecraft mission. We combine self-consistent, numerical models of Jupiter's equilibrium tidal response with observed Doppler shifts from the Juno gravity…

The Juno Orbiter is measuring the three-dimensional gravity field perturbation of Jupiter induced by its rapid rotation, zonal flows, and tidal response to its major natural satellites. This paper aims to provide the contributions to the…

Hot Jupiters are submitted to an intense stellar heating. The resulting thermal tides can torque their atmospheres into asynchronous rotation, while these planets are usually assumed to be locked into spin-orbit synchronization with their…

One of Jupiter's most prominent atmospheric features, the Great Red Spot (GRS), has been observed for more than two centuries, yet little is known about its structure and dynamics below its observed cloud-level. While its anticyclonic…