ALMA Peers into the Turbulent Atmosphere of Jupiter

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ALMA Peers into the Turbulent Atmosphere of Jupiter

Swirling clouds, big colorful belts of sinking gas, and giant storms. What can radio telescopes detect below the visible clouds of Jupiter? What is causing the many storms and eruptions that we see hovering around the planet? The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), observing in radio wavelengths, gives us the first view of Jupiter’s atmosphere down to fifty kilometers below the planet’s three different cloud layers, or decks.

Credit: NRAO/AUI/NSF

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