Jupiter's Rotation Period Derived From its Winds

Details Jupiter's Rotation Period Derived From its Winds Jupiter's Rotation Period Derived From its Winds

Dec 2008

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008agufm.p11b1261s&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #P11B-1261

Physics

5714 Gravitational Fields (1221), 5724 Interiors (8147), 5744 Orbital And Rotational Dynamics (1221), 6220 Jupiter, 6275 Saturn

Scientific paper

Anderson and Schubert (2007, Science, 317, 1384) proposed that Saturn's rotation period might be ascertained by minimizing the dynamic heights of the 100 mbar isosurface with respect to the geoid; they derived a rotation period of 10h 32m 35s. We investigate the same approach for Jupiter to see if the Jovian rotation period is predicted by minimizing the dynamical heights of its isobaric (1 bar pressure level) surface. The shape of the Jovian pressure isosurface is derived from zonal wind data (García-Melendo and Sanchez-Lavega, 2001, Icarus, 316) and the Jovian geoid. Then, by regarding the Jovian geoid as undetermined in terms of Jupiter's rotation rate, we vary the rotation rate and the geoid and search for the geoid that minimizes the dynamical heights of the pressure isosurface in an rms sense. A rotation period of 9h 54m 29.7s is found to minimize the dynamical heights of the pressure isosurface. This rotation period is only one minute shorter than the measured period of Jupiter. The successful application of the method to Jupiter lends support to its relevance for Saturn. Application of the approach to Neptune and Uranus will also be discussed.

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