The Oscillatory Motion of Jupiter's Polar Cyclones Results From Vorticity Dynamics

The polar cyclone at Jupiter's south pole and the five cyclones surrounding it oscillate in position interact. These cyclones, observed since 2016 by NASA's Juno mission, present a unique opportunity to study vortex dynamics interactions on long time scales. cyclones' data, acquired Juno's JIRAM instrument, is analyzed, showing dominant oscillations with ~12 month periods amplitudes of ~400 km. Here, mechanism driving these revealed considering vorticity-gradient forces generated mutual between latitudinal variation planetary vorticity. Data-driven estimation exhibits high correlation measured acceleration cyclones. To further test this mechanism, model constructed, simulating how subject exhibit similar oscillatory motion.