3 ms·
I wonder if the clouds don't separate into bands as much at those latitudes because the velocity (due to the planet's rotation) is lower closer to the poles.
by jpfed 10y ago
I wonder if the clouds don't separate into bands as much at those latitudes because the velocity (due to the planet's rotation) is lower closer to the poles.
- astazangasta 10y agoThe Coriolis force is strongest at the poles and weakest at the equator, so I presume there would be more rotation and thus less banding near the poles due to this effect. The origin of the banding is supposedly similar to the banding on Earth, which has three broad 'bands' driven by Hadley cells (polar, mid-lattitude, tropical), driven by convective heating moving energy away from the equator towards the poles, except presumably Jupiter has much more energy and therefore more convection and more bands. I only have a very crude understanding of atmospheric forces, though, so paging someone who knows better.