Extraterrestrial cyclone

Extraterrestrial cyclones are cyclones found on other planets.

Venus

Venus has two large long-lived pairs of inverted anticyclones, one pair near each pole (polar vortexes), discovered in 2007 by the Venus Express probe.

Mars

On April 27, 1999, a rare cyclone 1,100 miles in diameter was detected by the Hubble Space Telescope in the northern polar region of Mars. It consisted of three cloud bands wrapped around a massive 200 mile diameter eye, and contained features similar to storms that have been detected in the poles of Earth. It was only observed briefly, as it seemed to be dissipating when it was imaged six hours later, and was not seen on later imaging passes. [ [http://www.news.cornell.edu/Chronicle/99/5.27.99/Mars_cyclone.html Mars cyclone observed by CU-led team] ] Several other cyclones were imaged in about the same area, like the March 2, 2001 cyclone, 19 January, 2003 cyclone, 27 November, 2004 cyclone (Dust devils have also been observed on Mars.)

Jupiter

"' is by far, the largest extraterrestrial anticyclone (or cyclone) known. It is so large that about 2-3 Earths could fit inside it. The Great Red Spot has existed on Jupiter for at least 340 years. In the image at the left, the Great Red Spot can be seen near the top center. The Great Red Spot has turned dull pink, to bright red, but has not yet dissipated and is not likely to do so in the near future.

Oval BA (or Red Spot Jr.) is a remnant formed from the merger of multiple white ovals. It is located just to the south of the Great Red Spot and has been increasing in strength.

aturn

spacecraft took images of a storm with a well-defined distinct eyewall over the South Pole. It was 8000 kilometres (5000 mi) across, with storms in the eyewall reaching 70 km (40 mi) high. The storm had windspeeds of 550 km/h (340 mph) and appeared to be stationary over Saturn's South Pole. [ [http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/061109_monster_storm.html SPACE.com -- Freak One-Eyed Storm Spotted on Saturn] ]

In addition, several storms like the Great White Spot occasionally appear on the surface of Saturn, becoming large enough to be spotted by telescopes on Earth.

There is also a long-lived storm known as the Dragon Storm, which flares occasionally.

A hexagonal cyclone in Saturn's northern hemisphere has been spotted since the passage of Voyager 1 and 2, and has recently also been imaged by Cassini. It is just under 15,000 miles (25,000 km) in diameter with a depth of about 60 mi (100 km), and encircles the north pole of Saturn at roughly 78° N latitude. [ [http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/070327_saturn_hex.html SPACE.com -- Bizarre Hexagon Spotted on Saturn] ]

Neptune

Great Dark Spot

.

mall Dark Spot

"' (sometimes called Great Dark Spot 2) is another cyclone on Neptune. It is about one third the diameter of the Great Dark Spot. It received the name "Wizard's Eye" because it looks like an eye. This appearance is caused by a white cloud in the middle of the Wizard's Eye.

ee also

* Venus
* Mars
* Jupiter
* Saturn
* Neptune

References