research is published online today<\/a> in Nature Physics.<\/p>\n\u201cWe can make these features in a computer, but we couldn\u2019t make them happen in a lab,\u201d said Aurnou, a UCLA professor of Earth, planetary and space sciences, who has spent the past decade studying computer models of swirling winds. \u201cIf we have a theoretical understanding of a system, we should be able to create an analog model.\u201d<\/p>\n
The challenge to re-creating swirling winds in the lab was building a model of a planet with three key attributes believed to be necessary for jets to form: rapid rotation, turbulence and a \u201ccurvature effect\u201d that mimics the spherical shape of a planet. Previous attempts to create jets in a lab often failed because researchers couldn\u2019t spin their models fast enough or create enough turbulence, Aurnou said.<\/p>\n
The breakthrough for Aurnou\u2019s team was a new piece of laboratory equipment. The researchers used a table built on air bearings that can spin at 120 revolutions per minute and support a load of up to 1,000 kilograms (about 2,200 pounds), meaning that it could spin a large tank of fluid at high speed in a way that mimics Jupiter\u2019s rapid rotation.<\/p>\n
The scientists filled an industrial-sized garbage can with 400 liters (about 105 gallons) of water and placed it on the table. When the container spun, water was thrown against its sides, forming a parabola that approximated the curved surface of Jupiter.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe faster it went, the better we mimicked the massively strong effects of rotation and curvature that exists on planets,\u201d Aurnou said. But the team found that 75 revolutions per minute was a practical limit: fast enough to force the liquid into a strongly curved shape but slow enough to keep water from spilling out.<\/p>\n
While the can was spinning, scientists used a pump below its false floor to circulate water through a series of inlet and outlet holes, which created turbulence \u2014 one of the three critical conditions for the experiment. That turbulent energy was channeled into making jets, and within minutes the water flow had changed to six concentric flows moving in alternating directions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the first time that anyone has demonstrated that strong jets that look like those on Jupiter can develop in a real fluid,\u201d Aurnou said.<\/p>\n
The researchers inferred that the jets were deep because they could see them on the surface of the water, even though they had injected turbulence at the bottom.<\/p>\n
The researchers are looking forward to testing their predictions with real data from Jupiter, and they won\u2019t have to wait long: NASA\u2019s Juno space probe is orbiting Jupiter right now, collecting data about its atmosphere, magnetic field and interior. Initial results from the Juno mission were presented at the American Geophysical Union meeting in December in San Francisco, and Aurnou was there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Juno data from the very first flyby of Jupiter showed that structures of ammonia gas extended over 60 miles into Jupiter\u2019s interior, which was a big shock to the Juno science team,\u201d Aurnou said. \u201cUCLA researchers will be playing an important role in explaining the data.\u201d<\/p>\n
This year, Aurnou and his team will use supercomputers at Argonne National Laboratory in Argonne, Illinois, to simulate the dynamics of Jupiter\u2019s interior and atmosphere. They\u2019ll also continue their work at the laboratory in Marseilles to make the spinning table simulation more complex and more realistic.<\/p>\n
One goal is to add a thin, stable layer of fluid on top of the spinning water, which would function like the thin outer layer of Jupiter\u2019s atmosphere that\u2019s responsible for the planet\u2019s weather. The researchers believe this will help them simulate features like Jupiter\u2019s famous Great Red Spot.<\/p>\n
The research was funded by the National Science Foundation Geophysics Program, the French Agence Nationale pour la Recherche and the Aix-Marseille University Foundation.<\/p>\n
The full article appeared in the UCLA Newsroom here: http:\/\/newsroom.ucla.edu\/releases\/ucla-geophysicist-models-jupiters-swirling-winds<\/p>\n
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Experiment resolves mystery about wind flows on Jupiter Using a spinning table and a massive garbage can, UCLA geophysicist leads team in simulating the planet\u2019s atmosphere Views Jupiter\u2019s south pole (upper left and lower right) and images from the lab experiment to re-create the planet\u2019s winds (upper right and lower left). Image Credit: Jonathan Arnou … <\/p>\n
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