(@artfulseoul)

Jupiter by Hubble & by Webb

At the poles of Jupiter, enormous cyclones swirl in neat geometric patterns that stay stable for years at a time, a phenomenon that remains unexplained and that scientists have said hints at the need for new physics.

“Since 2017 the Juno spacecraft has observed a cyclone at the north pole of Jupiter surrounded by eight smaller cyclones arranged in a polygonal pattern,” the researchers said in the study. “It is not clear why this configuration is so stable or how it is maintained.”

“The polygons and the individual vortices that comprise them have been stable for the four years since Juno discovered them,” the team added. “The polygonal patterns rotate slowly, or not at all….In contrast, Saturn has only one vortex, a cyclone, at each pole.”

HiPOD 24 Aug 2023: Boulders inside of Pits

The objective of this observation is to determine the nature of boulders sitting inside of pits along the edge of a mesa. Wind may have blown away the material around the boulders. This image will also include exposed layers in the mesa wall and gives us more examples of these features from a previous HiRISE image at a nearby location.

ID: ESP_073986_1810 date: 9 May 2022 altitude: 270 km

HiPOD 13 May 2022: The Mottled Surface of Gale Crater Ejecta

Also visible in Context Camera images, this might be an “erosional window” down into the ejecta deposit. Perhaps some of the material is superimposed on the ejecta blanket. What does the mottling tell us about the ejecta, if anything? Differing rock characteristics or maybe patches of impact melt?

Enhanced color is less than 1 km across.

ID: ESP_065785_1725 date: 8 August 2020 altitude: 263 km