Rotation movie of Jupiter's south polar region

2018-01-11 18:48 UT
Credit : NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Björn Jónsson © cc nc sa
Submitted By : Bjorn_Jonsson

Due to Jupiter's low axial tilt we never see more than roughly one half of the area around the poles in sunlight at any given time. However, it is interesting to see what Jupiter's polar regions would look like if things were different and a big area around the poles was illuminated. This rotation movie shows what Jupiter's south polar region would look like near the time of southern summer solstice if Jupiter's axial tilt was much greater than it is, i.e. comparable to Saturn's axial tilt. Two complete rotations are included.

The five circumpolar cyclones and the central cyclone can be seen near the pole. However, the rotation around the pole looks a bit weird because none of the cyclones is centered at the pole. Even the central cyclone is offset from the pole. This is very different from e.g. Saturn's poles.