North polar region rotation movie

2018-05-11 15:23 UT
Credit : NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / ASI / INAF / JIRAM / Björn Jónsson © cc nc sa
Submitted By : Bjorn_Jonsson

Due to Jupiter's low axial tilt we never see more than roughly one half of the area around the poles in sunlight at any given time. However, it is interesting to see what Jupiter's polar regions would look like if things were different and a big area around the poles was illuminated. This rotation movie shows what Jupiter's north polar region would look like near the time of northern summer solstice if Jupiter's axial tilt was much greater than it is, i.e. comparable to Saturn's axial tilt. Two complete rotations are included.

In addition to JunoCam images, data from the JIRAM instrument was used for areas very near the pole since the north pole is currently in winter darkness.

The eight circumpolar cyclones and the central cyclone can be seen near the pole. It is obvious that Jupiter's polar regions are remarkably different from Saturn's polar regions that were observed in detail by the Cassini spacecraft.