Rossby Waves And The Moving 'Hot Spots' Of Jupiter

On Jupiter, cloudless patches are so rare that the larger visible ones get the special name 'hot spots.' How do these clearings form and why they are they only found near the planet's equator? It's a mystery, by Jove, but using images from the Cassini spacecraft, scientists have found new evidence that hot spots in Jupiter's atmosphere are created by a Rossby wave, a pattern also seen in Earth's atmosphere and oceans. The team found the wave responsible for the hot spots glides up and down through layers of the atmosphere like a carousel horse on a merry-go-round. read more

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