Over the years, passing spacecraft have observed mystifying weather patterns at the poles of Jupiter and Saturn. The two planets host very different types of polar vortices, which are huge atmospheric whirlpools that rotate over a planet's polar region. On Saturn, a single massive polar vortex appears to cap the north pole in a curiously hexagonal shape, while on Jupiter, a central polar vortex is surrounded by eight smaller vortices, like a pan of swirling cinnamon rolls. Given that both planets are similar in many ways ' they are roughly the same size and made from the same gaseous elements ' the stark difference in their polar weather patterns has been a longstanding mystery. Now, MIT scientists have identified a possible explanation for how the two different systems may have evolved. Their findings could help scientists understand not only the planets' surface weather patterns, but also what might lie beneath the clouds, deep within their interiors. In a study appearing this...
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