A photo of Jupiter in the year 2000, and its nearest moon Io.

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NASA / AFP

A "unique meteorological monster in our solar system".

This is how the European Southern Observatory (ESO) described the phenomenon of strong winds measured for the first time in the stratosphere of Jupiter.

The study was published in February in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics and shared on March 18 on the ESO website.

"Our discovery indicates that these jets could behave like a giant vortex with a diameter of up to four times that of the Earth and a height of some 900 kilometers," detailed astronomer Bilal Benmahi, reports

Numerama

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Powerful stratospheric winds were measured on Jupiter for the first time, using the Atacama Large Millimeter / submillimeter Array (ALMA), in which ESO is a partner.



Illustration credit: @ESO / L.

Calçada & @NASAJPL / @swri / MSSS https://t.co/8OTqRR1bY2 pic.twitter.com/Tbk4mYLsav

- ESO (@ESO) March 18, 2021

A comet to the rescue

If scientists were already aware of the existence of these winds blowing near the poles of Jupiter, this is the first time that they have recorded currents in the middle atmosphere of the gas giant.

Winds that can reach 1,450 km / h, three times more than the most powerful tornadoes recorded on Earth.

So how did scientists go about recovering such data?

This work was carried out by a team of astronomers from the Bordeaux Astrophysics Laboratory.

Since they could not rely on the clouds, absent in this part of the atmosphere, to measure the winds, they had to rely on other tools.

Scientists then remembered that in 1994, Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 collided with Jupiter.

A collision resulting in a strong impact and the creation of new molecules, now circulating in the planet's stratosphere.

Astronomers have therefore followed the path of one of its molecules, hydrogen cyanide, to measure the power of the winds.

Their measurements were carried out using high-precision ALMA antennas located in the Atacama Desert in Chile, specifies the European Southern Observatory.

And the results are very encouraging for astronomer Thibault Cavalié.

"[They] are opening a new window for studying the auroral regions of Jupiter, which was really unexpected just a few months ago," he enthused.

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