So roughly, what’s the smoothness of the height of jupiters cloud tops ?? if you were going to skim the tops of the clouds , how much variance would there be between? I’m assuming the jovian atmosphere doesn’t end “abruptly”, but is there some barrier at which the clouds end?
Dropbear said:
So roughly, what’s the smoothness of the height of jupiters cloud tops ?? if you were going to skim the tops of the clouds , how much variance would there be between? I’m assuming the jovian atmosphere doesn’t end “abruptly”, but is there some barrier at which the clouds end?
First reaction to OP. The height of Jupiter’s cloud tops is very variable. The highest ones are white.
mollwollfumble said:
Dropbear said:
So roughly, what’s the smoothness of the height of jupiters cloud tops ?? if you were going to skim the tops of the clouds , how much variance would there be between? I’m assuming the jovian atmosphere doesn’t end “abruptly”, but is there some barrier at which the clouds end?First reaction to OP. The height of Jupiter’s cloud tops is very variable. The highest ones are white.
Does this image help? It may be very old.
Cloud tops vary be about 10 km in altitude.
Can you skim Jupiter’s cloud tops or would gravity pull you towards the centre of the planet
See also 3-D image of Jupiter’s cloud tops on https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap000429.html
The following image shows white dots with shadows, these are the highest peaks of the cloud tops on Jupiter. From the shadows you can see that they are considerably higher than the surrounding cloud tops.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6373699/NASAs-Juno-probe-captures-stunning-view-magnificent-swirling-clouds-Jupiter.html
Cymek said:
Can you skim Jupiter’s cloud tops or would gravity pull you towards the centre of the planet
Atmospheric density would be less than Earth’s but still large enough to get aerodynamic lift from wings. You could use a jet engine with stored liquid oxygen to be burnt using atmospheric hydrogen.
mollwollfumble said:
Cymek said:
Can you skim Jupiter’s cloud tops or would gravity pull you towards the centre of the planet
Atmospheric density would be less than Earth’s but still large enough to get aerodynamic lift from wings. You could use a jet engine with stored liquid oxygen to be burnt using atmospheric hydrogen.
Jupiter’s gravity is only 2.5 times that of Earth at the surface. The speed of sound in hydrogen is nearly three times that of Earth’s atmosphere, and lift is proportional to the square of speed.
So a subsonic flight would be fast enough to stay airborne of Jupiter. But I think that fuel would run out much faster than for flights on Earth.
mollwollfumble said:
mollwollfumble said:
Cymek said:
Can you skim Jupiter’s cloud tops or would gravity pull you towards the centre of the planet
Atmospheric density would be less than Earth’s but still large enough to get aerodynamic lift from wings. You could use a jet engine with stored liquid oxygen to be burnt using atmospheric hydrogen.
Jupiter’s gravity is only 2.5 times that of Earth at the surface. The speed of sound in hydrogen is nearly three times that of Earth’s atmosphere, and lift is proportional to the square of speed.
So a subsonic flight would be fast enough to stay airborne of Jupiter. But I think that fuel would run out much faster than for flights on Earth.
Gliders or balloons perhaps
Cymek said:
mollwollfumble said:
mollwollfumble said:Atmospheric density would be less than Earth’s but still large enough to get aerodynamic lift from wings. You could use a jet engine with stored liquid oxygen to be burnt using atmospheric hydrogen.
Jupiter’s gravity is only 2.5 times that of Earth at the surface. The speed of sound in hydrogen is nearly three times that of Earth’s atmosphere, and lift is proportional to the square of speed.
So a subsonic flight would be fast enough to stay airborne of Jupiter. But I think that fuel would run out much faster than for flights on Earth.
Gliders or balloons perhaps
Hot hydrogen balloon has been suggested, and is my favourite. Like a hot air balloon, but in an atmosphere of hydrogen rather than air.
Juno is coming to within 4000 km of the visible cloud tops. Taking into account its FOV etc … it sure as shit seems to me that there are structures in the cloud tops in excess of 100 km high.
Ambient temperature hydrogen would also be buoyant on Jupiter.