CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Monstrous cyclones are churning over Jupiter's poles, until now largely unexplored.
NASA's Juno spacecraft spotted the chaotic weather once it began skimming the giant gas planet's cloud tops last year. Scientists released their first major findings Thursday.
The cyclones are hundreds of miles across and clustered near the poles. The diameters of these cyclones stretch up to 870 miles (1,400 kilometers). Even bigger, though shapeless weather systems are present in both polar regions.
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. Besides polar cyclones, Juno has detected an overwhelming abundance of ammonia in Jupiter's deep atmosphere and a surprisingly strong magnetic field - roughly 10 times greater than Earth's.
