Dynamics and clouds in planetary atmospheres from telescopic observations

Abstract

This review presents an insight into our current knowledge of the atmospheres of the planets Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, the satellite Titan, and those of exoplanets. It deals with the thermal structure, aerosol properties (hazes and clouds, dust in the case of Mars), chemical composition, global winds, and selected dynamical phenomena in these objects. Our understanding of atmospheres is greatly benefitting from the discovery in the last 3 decades of thousands of exoplanets. The exoplanet properties span a broad range of conditions, and it is fair to expect as much variety for their atmospheres. This complexity is driving unprecedented investigations of the atmospheres, where those of the solar systems bodies are the obvious reference. We are witnessing a significant transfer of knowledge in both directions between the investigations dedicated to Solar System and exoplanet atmospheres, and there are reasons to think that this exchange will intensity in the future. We identify and select a list of research subjects that can be conducted at optical and infrared wavelengths with future and currently available ground-based and space-based telescopes, but excluding those from the space missions to solar system bodies.

Depth Dependent Dynamics Explain the Equatorial Jet Difference Between Jupiter and Saturn

“…The relation between Jupiter's and Saturn's equatorial zonal wind velocity is 1:3, which is the same ratio as their atmospheric depth, and nearly the same ratio as the resulting volumes outside the tangent cylinder (see Supporting Information S1). Although the 1:3 ratio for Jupiter's zonal wind strength compared to Saturn's might subtly vary depending on rotation rate and specific measurements (Sánchez-Lavega et al, 2023), all wind profiles consistently support the notion that Saturn's winds are demonstrably stronger and deeper than Jupiter's. These results cannot apply to Uranus and Neptune, as they are not superrotating and possess much shallower atmospheres (Kaspi et al, 2013;Soyuer et al, 2020), which might not even hold such convection columns.…”