Cyclones in polygon formation on Jupiter baffle scientists

Large cyclones encircle the poles of Jupiter and Saturn in perfect geometrical shape.

Jupiter’s poles are home to astonishingly large cyclones that have swirled in perfect geometric formation for years.

Forming a polygon at the planet’s north pole is a large cyclone surrounded by eight smaller ones. Similarly, at its south pole there are five smaller cyclones that dance around a big one at its center.

In contrast, Saturn has only one vortex, or cyclone, at each pole.

These geometrical storms have baffled scientists who have been trying to find an explanation for the phenomenon since 2017 when the spacecraft Juno first observed the cyclones at the poles. 

These swirling winds are astonishingly stable. They maintain their tight octagonal formation without drifting away or merging into each other, said a previous study. 

In a new study published by Nature Astronomy, a team of scientists, led by Andrew Ingersoll of California Institute of Technology, may have found the secret behind the stability of these cyclones. 

The results of the study suggest that an “anticyclonic ring” of winds that blow in the opposite direction is needed between the big cyclone at the center and the smaller cyclones that surround it to maintain the stability of the polygonal pattern.