Might NASA JunoCam images of Jupiter’s polar region, from 23,000 miles, suggest turbulence and upwelling? Altenatively, rather than just atmospherics, might one be seeing in part a rock/ice surface (percentage ice and/or rock)? Or perhaps more ice crystalization in atmosphere?
Closer images are less suggestive of an underlying ice surface. Do recent Juno close up images suggest turbulence, and hence an upwelling of hotter gases; hence not consistent with an underlying surface? So seemingly are Jupiter and Saturn respective poles quite dfferent? Would synthetic aperture radar (SAR) distinguish any underlying ice surface?
Would rapid rotation (~10 hrs) of Jupiter affect polar region atmospheric circulation etc., giving rise to a different presentation?
However wouldn’t the lower density of Jupiter, compared to density of terrestrials, seem consistent with a gaseous predominance, and not even just a predominant ice/liquid interior?
Might one even entertain the possibility of just a gaseous jovian ‘moon’? Is the Great Red Spot (GRS) more than just a cyclonic-like disturbance? Is it’s density extremely different (5-10x ?) than ambient clouds; hence a much greater (terrestrial scale) mass? Sufficient mass to designate it a gaseous object in fixed co-rotation with visible ambient clouds? More specifically, consider it’s depth equal to it’s diameter, giving ellipsoid volume. Could ellipsoid shape, vs conical or cylindrical, be ascertained by oblique SAR radar imaging? That is, might an underlying curvature vs flat surface be consisent with such ellipsoid shape?
Then for ascertained density, obtain mass. Then compare such mass to a Titan’s estimated all ice density mass, to see if GRS has comparable mass.
Might past ‘comet’, or jovian moon icebergs, collision suggest hitting a surface, rather than atmospheric/liquid explosions?
Just as there are external rings/bands, might there also possibly be a somewhat interior orbiting band(s), or spherical shell, of rock/ice of sufficient density and thickness to constitute a surface, at a certain depth beneath clouds? Hence accounting for ‘comet’ impact pattern?
Perhaps consider a primordial scenario, wherein one has extreme higher angular momentum forming icy clouds, with impurities forming denser conglomerates aggregating (i.e. ice condensation from millimeter grains to decimeter pebbles in 1000 years; the latter constituting protoplanetary disks?) (1), giving sediment-like icy layering accumulating gradually over 4.6 Byrs; resulting in a surface of certain density and structural thickness, in orbit between cloud layers?
Perhaps aeolian effect of high velocity winds contributing to surface formation, as on earth. Might such surface have initially formed much deeper, and then vis a vis exchange of momentum have migrated to outward region? Yet over all planet density unaffected; hence maintaining a non-terrestial profile?
Might one even have other variations for different hot (and for ours) Jupiter’s, such as interior solid ‘moon’ formation, co-rotating with planet, but in the clouds?
Would a Cassini like Saturnian orbit sweeping up obliquely from lower latitude to poles be suitable for detecting via synthetic aperture radar any interior bands, interior ‘moon’, or even planetary wide thick spherical shell? Perhaps redirect Cassini to Jupiter – a 1-2 year voyage?
Might Saturnian circumpolar hexagonal pattern of supposed jet(s) flow be guided (or about?) by an underlying surface , such as water ice with ammonium substances (all of interior area of hexagon?) at a certain depth below cloud top? Analogy to circumpolar Antarctica current (fluid) and it’s enclosed surface?
Or perhaps an analogy to polygon subsurface formation in permafrost? Perhaps utilize synthetic aperture radar (SAR) of Cassini for such possible surface detection? Or for an ice surface (i.e. object), perhaps infrared spectroscopy would be more suitable; such database has allready been obtained, but not intrepreted Also polygon formatiion has been observed on Mars; from sub-surface ice.
One could consider rotation of such polygon, but at a rate slower than for any south pole markers in gaseous mileau. That is, such solid ice surface would have a moment of inertia, and hence a slower angular velocity than for gaseous south saturnian pole.
Do such two examples, one of Saturnian icy polygon surface (1/2 continental diameter?), and the other of markedly different gas density (Great Red Spot), represent objects in ‘orbit’ within atmospheric fluid mileau of 2 gas giants?
Since Jupiter/earth radius is ~11/1, then for Jupiter circumference of ~66 times greater, but with rotation period of ~ 10 hrs, what would the top layer cloud velocity be; and would it be in step with observed clouds’ high velocities? Lesser velocity for near poles?
Might strong magnetic fields of Mercury, Earth, and Jupiter all suggest similarities to their interiors? That is, perhaps a surface with a deeper liquid (iron?) inner core, rheologically flowing; in addition to a solid core? Contrast to comparatively lesser magnetic field of Sun, perhaps due to a circulating plasma, rather than liquid? However see above density argument caveat.
If upwelling of gases at jovian pole (suggested by turbulence?), then detectable ammonium? All resulting from higher temperature breaking of triple high energy bond of N_2 molecule, with formation of lower energy NH bond and HCN at deeper sources?
If one has such fixed nitrogen in the jovian atmosphere, together with upwelling heat (infrared radiation), together with water vapour, HCN etc., might this seem suitable for catalytic synthesis of organic compounds (amide dehydration polymerization?) and even possible nascent life – such as on particulate matter surface? (1)
Might analogy to methane hydrates provide a way to preserve functional organics, encased in ice, with intermittent melting for different convection induced temperature changes – an earlier way? Perhaps the inner ice surface also providing some stability. Also perhaps later fatty acid ether linkage dehydration polymerization? Another alternative origin of life scenario; albeit limited?
many and strange are the universes,
that float like bubbles in the foam,
upon the river of time. A. C. Clark
Incidentally, might jovian lightning, and hence charge seperation, involve NH_4 ammonium cation; what would be a suitable anion – hydrosulfide/sulfate, or hydroxyl?
Ice condensation as a planet formation mechanism
Saturnian composition arXiv:1609.06324v1 [astro-ph.EP] 20 Sep 2016.
Juno instrumentation
Saturn’s polar atmosphere
synthetic aperture radar (SAR)
Mar’s polygon formation, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deuteronilus_Mensae
Juno’s close up view of Jupiter pole. nasa
(1) astrochemistry
Jupiter’s interior and deep atmosphere: The initial pole-to-pole passes with the Juno spacecraft
S. J. Bolton, A. Adriani, V. Adumitroaie, M. Allison, J. Anderson, S. Atreya, J. Bloxham, S. Brown, J. E. P. Connerney, E. DeJong, W. Folkner, D. Gautier, D. Grassi, S. Gulkis, T. Guillot, C. Hansen, W. B. Hubbard, L. Iess, A. Ingersoll, M. Janssen, J. Jorgensen, Y. Kaspi, S. M. Levin, C. Li, J. Lunine, Y. Miguel, A. Mura, G. Orton, T. Owen, M. Ravine, E. Smith, P. Steffes, E. Stone, D. Stevenson, R. Thorne, J. Waite, D. Durante, R. W. Ebert, T. K. Greathouse, V. Hue, M. Parisi, J. R. Szalay, R. Wilson.
polygon at Saturnian pole nasa
ALMA detection and astrobiological potential of vinyl cyanide on Titan. Maureen Y. Palmer1,2,3,*, Martin A. Cordiner1,3, Conor A. Nixon1, Steven B. Charnley1, Nicholas A. Teanby4, Zbigniew Kisiel5, Patrick G. J. Irwin6 and Michael J. Mumma1 Science Advances 28 Jul 2017: Vol. 3, no. 7, e1700022 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1700022
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