This timelapse video shows Jupiter as seen by Voyager 1. In it, each second corresponds to approximately 1 Jupiter day, or 10 Earth hours. Be sure to fullscreen it so that you can appreciate the details. The timelapse highlights the differences in velocity (and even flow direction!) between Jupiter’s cloud bands. It is these velocity differences that create the shear forces which cause Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities–the series of overturning eddies–seen between the bands. Earth also has bands of winds moving in opposite directions, but there are fewer of them and the composition of our atmosphere is such that they do not make for such a dramatic naked eye view of large-scale fluid dynamics. (Video credit: NASA/JPL/B. Jónsson/I. Regan)
Jupiter Timelapse
