Related papers: Moist Convective Storms on Saturn
In the nucleated instability picture of gas giant formation, the final stage is the rapid accretion of a massive gas envelope by a solid core, bringing about a tenfold or more increase in mass. This tends to trigger the scattering of any…
Saturn was observed by Chandra ACIS-S on 20 and 26-27 January 2004 for one full Saturn rotation (10.7 hr) at each epoch. We report here the first observation of an X-ray flare from Saturn's non-auroral (low-latitude) disk, which is seen in…
We test the hypothesis that the sub-millimetre thermal emission and scattered light gaps seen in recent observations of TW Hya are caused by planet-disc interactions. We perform global three-dimensional dusty smoothed particle hydrodynamics…
We analyse the potential vorticity of Saturn's polar regions, as it is a fundamental dynamical tracer that enables us to improve our understanding of the dynamics of these regions and their seasonal variability. In particular, we present…
Since 2013, observations of Neptune with small telescopes have resulted in several detections of long-lived bright atmospheric features that have also been observed by large telescopes such as Keck II or Hubble. The combination of both…
It is generally believed that sunspots are the emergent part of magnetic flux tubes in the solar interior. These tubes are created at the base of the convection zone and rise to the surface due to their magnetic buoyancy. The motion of…
This paper describes some interesting properties of waves in, and oscillations of, the interstellar medium in the direction normal to the plane of the Galaxy. Our purpose is to examine possible reasons for four observed phenomena: the…
The core mass of Saturn is commonly assumed to be 10-25 ME as predicted by interior models with various equations of state (EOSs) and the Voyager gravity data, and hence larger than that of Jupiter (0-10 ME). We here re-analyze Saturn's…
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 fluid dynamics in planet Saturn gives rise to alternating east-west jet streams, large cyclonic and anticyclonic vortices, and a dipole-dominant magnetic field which is highly axisymmetric about the planetary rotation axis. Modelling…
The planetary nebula (PN) NGC3132 is a striking example of the dramatic but poorly understood, mass-loss phenomena that (1-8) Msun stars undergo during their death throes as they evolve into white dwarfs (WDs). From an analysis of JWST…
In an atmosphere, a cloud condensation region is characterized by a strong vertical gradient in the abundance of the related condensing species. On Earth, the ensuing gradient of mean molecular weight has relatively few dynamical…
Convection in the solar interior is thought to comprise structures on a spectrum of scales. This conclusion emerges from phenomenological studies and numerical simulations, though neither covers the proper range of dynamical parameters of…
Extreme near-surface moist heat and severe convective storms are among the leading causes of weather-related damages worldwide. Here, we show that episodes of extreme moist heat and severe convection frequently co-occur across midlatitude…
Jupiter's fast rotation - one rotation over 10 hours - creates strong jet streams, smearing its clouds into linear bands of dark and light zonal belts that circle the planet on lines of almost constant latitude. Such a high degree of…
Saturn is ringing weakly. Exquisite data from the Cassini mission reveal the presence of f-mode oscillations as they excite density waves in Saturn's rings. These oscillations have displacement amplitudes of order a metre on Saturn's…
Clouds on Titan result from the condensation of methane and ethane and, as on other planets, are primarily structured by circulation of the atmosphere. At present, cloud activity mainly occurs in the southern (summer) hemisphere, arising…
Supergranulation on the surface of the Sun is an organized cellular flow pattern with a characteristic scale of 30 Mm. It is superficially similar to the well understood granulation that operates at the 1.5 Mm natural scale of convection,…
The potential existence of a distant planet ("Planet Nine") in the Solar system has prompted a re-think about the evolution of planetary systems. As the Sun transitions from a main sequence star into a white dwarf, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus…
Saturn's moon Titan possesses stratospheric zonal winds that places it among a sparse class of planetary bodies known to have superrotation in their atmospheres. Few measurements have been made of these speeds in the upper stratosphere,…