In the specific case of Jupiter—the first and most massive planet to form around our sun—its genesis must have played a large role in the sculpting the rest of our solar system. They discovered that the roots of the Great Red Spot extend to at least kilometers below the cloud tops, as far as down the microwave radiometer could see. By measuring these tiny shifts as Juno flies over the Great Red Spot, scientists can make precise measurements of the local gravitational field and the depth to which the massive vortex extends.
Rather, its vortex probably fades off gradually, though to confirm this would require measurements of frequency shifts currently too tiny for Juno to resolve. On Earth, he says, the energy that drives our weather primarily comes from the condensation of water vapor at the bases of clouds, which is what forms features like rain, wind and lightning. Instead, its circulation must be drawing energy from much deeper and denser layers of the atmosphere.
The instrument also observed two other storms, and while all three had roots past the cloud base, neither went down as far as the Great Red Spot. They found that the Spot, along with several other storms on Jupiter , stretches far down, with precipitation and drafts at unprecedented depths. They found signatures of these phenomena below Jupiter's cloud level, beneath which the ammonia and water in the atmosphere are expected to condense.
Together, the gravity and microwave measurements hint that Jupiter's upper atmosphere is meaningfully connected to these depths. Juno has been making long, looping orbits around Jupiter since , and NASA recently extended its mission until Soon, if all goes according to plan, Juno's orbital path will move to take the probe over the planet's north pole — and away from the Great Red Spot, which is farther south.
But, according to Parisi, Juno's instruments will get the chance to watch other curiosities, such as Jupiter's cryptic polar cyclones. They're obviously going to collect data there as well. Jupiter's "sky" is 70 km 44 miles deep, and consists of cloud layers made of ammonia ice, ammonium hydrosulfide or water ice and vapor. Scientists believe that beneath these layers exists an ocean of liquid hydrogen. And beneath that ocean is the planet's core — but scientists are not sure yet what Jupiter is made of.
On Earth, hurricanes start to slow and break apart when they reach solid land, but with nowhere for the Great Red Spot to make landfall, the storm can rage on and on. And the Great Red Spot might actually be breaking apart. Around the storm center, however, winds moved much more languidly. According to Wong, the team was only able to spot the shifts in wind speed because they were looking at a relatively large time window. If it really does disintegrate, could another like it form?
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