NASA discovered a giant tornado on Jupiter

NASA's Juno observed a tornado covering an area of ​​nearly 700,000 km ² during a flight close to the surface of Jupiter in November.

The Juno spacecraft descends to a height of 3,500 km above Jupiter's clouds and makes its 22nd flight near the surface of the planet. This flight reveals a new tornado is joining the cluster of southern pole.

The resulting tornado is smaller in size than the other tornadoes in the cluster.(Photo: CNN).

Data from Juno's Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) shows cluster clusters about to change from pentagons to hexagons, according to Alessandro Mura, researcher at the Juno project at the Institute of Astrophysics in Rome. The new tornado is smaller than other tornadoes, only the size of the US state of Texas (695,663 km ² ). The team said it took more time to conclude whether the small tornado had grown to the size of its neighbors. It has a wind of 362 km / h, similar to the whole cluster.

The cameras on the probes can take a closer look at the process taking place in the planet's atmosphere and monitor the weather at 48-72km below the clouds. The aggregated data reveals not only the conditions of Jupiter but also other gas and ice planets in the solar system.

Juno's camera records giant tornadoes gathered in the polar region of Jupiter shortly after flying into planetary orbit in July 2016 with 9 tornadoes at the north end and 6 tornadoes at the southern end. On the southern end, the center cyclone is as large as the United States, the remaining 5 whirlwinds spin around, not allowing other nearby whirlwinds to join their pentagonal structure.

To observe the tornado, engineers must control a solar-powered spacecraft to fly out of Jupiter's shadow. Inside the shadow of Jupiter, Juno must withstand temperatures much colder than allowed, leaving the battery in danger of being irreversible. The project management team has found a way to help Juno soar and bounce off the shadow. The Juno will continue orbiting and studying Jupiter until the end of its mission in July 2021.

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