Related papers: Moist Convective Storms on Saturn
We used 0.85 - 5.1 micron 2006 observations by Cassini's Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) to constrain the unusual vertical structure and compositions of cloud layers in Saturn's south polar region, the site of a powerful…
Observations of hot-Jupiter atmospheres show large variations in the location of the hot spot and the amplitude of spectral features. Atmospheric flow simulations using the commonly-employed forcing and initialization have generally…
Martian planet-encircling dust storms or global dust storms (GDS), resulting from the combined influence of local and regional storms, are uncommon aperiodic phenomena: with an average frequency of approximately one every 3-4 MY, they…
Current sheets (CSs), long stretching structures of magnetic reconnection above solar flare loops, are usually observed to oscillate, their origins, however, are still puzzled at present. Based on a high-resolution 2.5-dimensional MHD…
In Earth's current climate, moist convective updraft speeds increase with surface warming. This trend suggests that very vigorous convection might be the norm in extremely hot and humid atmospheres, such as those undergoing a runaway…
Hot luminous stars show a variety of phenomena in their photospheres and in their winds which still lack clear physical explanations at this time. Among these phenomena are non-thermal line broadening, line profile variability (LPVs),…
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…
In spite of an expected decline in convective activity following the 2007 equinox of Uranus, eight sizable storms were detected on the planet with the near-infrared camera NIRC2, coupled to the adaptive optics system, on the 10-m W. M. Keck…
Oscillations of the Sun and solar-like stars are believed to be excited stochastically by convection near the stellar surface. Theoretical modeling predicts that the resulting amplitude increases rapidly with the luminosity of the star.…
A new physical hypothesis predicts that a weak coupling of the orbital and rotational motions of extended bodies may give rise to a modulation of circulatory flows within their atmospheres. Driven cycles of intensification and relaxation of…
Recent Juno observations have greatly extended the temporal and spatial coverage of lightning detection on Jupiter. We use these data to constrain a model of moist convection and lightning generation in Jupiter's atmosphere, and derive a…
The Cassini spacecraft revealed the spectacular, highly irregular shapes of the small inner moons of Saturn, ranging from the unique "ravioli-like" forms of Pan and Atlas to the highly elongated structure of Prometheus. Closest to Saturn,…
The outer envelopes of massive ($M\gtrsim10\,M_{\odot}$) stars exhibit large increases in opacities from forests of lines and ionization transitions (particularly from iron and helium) that trigger near-surface convection zones.…
We analyze the effect of the Sun's gravitational field on a flow of cold dark matter (CDM) through the solar system in the limit where the velocity dispersion of the flow vanishes. The exact density and velocity distributions are derived in…
Large regions of giant planets are thought to possess unstable thermal gradients stabilised by gradients in heavy-element composition. The fluid can then develop semi-convection, a double-diffusive instability driven by the unequal…
On the approach to minimum of Solar Cycle 24, on 26 August 2018, an unexpectedly strong geomagnetic storm (GMS) suddenly occurred. Its Dst index reached -174 nT, that is the third of the most intense storms during the cycle. The analysis…
Spokes are localized clouds of fine particles that appear over the outer part of Saturn's B ring. Over the course of the Cassini Mission, the Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) obtained over 20,000 images of the outer B ring, providing the…
Recent observations of Jupiter have suggested the existence of global oscillatory modes at millihertz frequencies, yet the source mechanism responsible for driving these modes is still unknown. However, the energies necessary to produce…
As they keep cooling and contracting, Solar System giant planets radiate more energy than they receive from the Sun. Applying the first and second principles of thermodynamics, one can determine their cooling rate, luminosity, and…
The seasonal evolution of Saturn's polar atmospheric temperatures and hydrocarbon composition is derived from a decade of Cassini Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) 7-16 $\mu$m thermal infrared spectroscopy. We construct a…