Jupiter鈥檚 atmosphere is full of enduring mysteries, and its poles are no exception. Instruments aboard the Juno spacecraft have gotten a better look at Jupiter鈥檚 North and South poles than any previous mission, and what they鈥檝e found raises even more questions. Both of Jupiter鈥檚 poles feature a central cyclone ringed by other, similarly-sized cyclones. The North pole has eight outer cyclones (top image), while the South pole has five (bottom image), shown above in infrared. Despite being close enough that their spiral arms intersect, the cyclones don鈥檛 seem to be merging into something like Saturn鈥檚 polar hexagon. For now, scientists don鈥檛 know how this arrangement formed or why it persists, but the longer Juno can study the vortices up close, the more we鈥檒l learn. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/ASI/INAF/JIRAM; research credit: A. Adriani et al.; submitted by Kam-Yung Soh)
If he had not already departed 15 years ago, would make 63 today.
Joey Dunlop, 26-time winner of the Tourist Trophy Isle of Man.
Immortalized in metal, on top of Mount Snaeffel!