Monstrous storms at Jupiter's poles are 'earth-shattering'

Science

Monstrous storms at Jupiter’s poles are ‘earth-shattering’

Monstrous cyclones are churning over Jupiter’s poles, until now a largely unexplored region that is more turbulent than scientists expected. NASA’s Juno spacecraft spotted the chaotic weather at the top and bottom of Jupiter once it began skimming the cloud tops last year, surprising researchers who assumed the giant gas planet would be relatively boring and uniform down low. The poles look nothing like Jupiter’s equatorial region, instantly recognizable by its stripes and the Great Red Spot, a gigantic hurricane-like storm.

I don’t think anybody would have guessed this is Jupiter.

Scott Bolton, NASA Juno’s chief scientist

Scott Bolton, the chief NASA scientist on Juno, called the discovery of the gigantic storms, “Earth-shattering. Or should I say, Jupiter-shattering.” Launched in 2011 and orbiting Jupiter since last summer, Juno is providing the best close-up views ever of our solar system’s largest planet, peering beneath the clouds for a true portrait. It’s made five close passes over Jupiter so far for science collection, the most recent last week.