10 most massive storms observed all over the solar system
Welcome to my blog "Mystery of Galaxy". Almost every planet in our solar system has an atmosphere. With atmospheres come weather, seasonal variations and convection. Some of the most interesting atmospheric phenomena are cyclones, vortices, and storms. We are familiar with storms found on Earth, but most of them are relatively puny compared to the mammoths we have observed in other places around the solar system.So, what are the 10 most massive storms observed all over the solar system?
Number 10: Titan’s polar vortices. Titan is an astonishing moon. It is unique in the solar system in that it is the only moon to have a substantial atmosphere. And it really is substantial. Titan is much smaller than Earth, and yet its atmosphere is 1.2 times the mass of Earth’s. Because of this, Titan’s atmosphere stretches far into space for hundreds of kilometers. In fact, its atmosphere at the surface is thick enough, and the gravity low enough, that flapping your arms on Titan with make shift wings attached would allow you to fly.
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| Titan’s polar vortices Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute / Public domain |
When Cassini made its closest approach over Titan in 2014, it flew by at an altitude of only 880km above Titan’s surface. Even at this altitude, atmospheric drag from the flyby forced Cassini to use its thrusters to maintain its trajectory. In comparison, the ISS orbits Earth at an altitude of only 400km. Now, storms on Titan are not so easy to spot from space, but it’s clear that methane clouds form and precipitation occurs regularly on this world. However, the most noticeable storm on Titan is the one found semi permanently over its south pole. Titan is thought to be a super rotator, or in other words, its atmosphere rotates faster than its surface. And this is definitely the case with this vortex, which rotates once every nine hours compared to the 16-day rotational period of Titan. Initial research suggests this vortex is related to seasonal variations on the Moon, forming as the pole heads into its 15-year winter.
Number 9: Mars’ cyclone. Mars is already pretty well known for its planet wide dust storms, storms that kick up so much of Mars’ ultrafine dust that it almost obscures the view of the surface from space. We’ve been able to observe these storms up from space with missions like Hubble, but also up close with the various rover missions on Mars’ surface.
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| Mars’ cyclone Source: Topazwoolenwick / CC BY-SA |
These dust storms have ultimately been the reason why most solar powered missions on Mars have ended, most notably in 2018 the Opportunity rover couldn’t survive the dust storm that lasted several months.
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| Opportunity rover Source: NASA/JPL-Solar System Visualization Team / Public domain |
Mars’ atmosphere is so thin, it is a wonder it can carry any dust at all. However, it just goes to show how fine the dust particles on Mars are, much smaller than Earth sand grains. More surprising still was a discovery made in 1999 by Hubble, which observed a cyclone on Mars over 1,100km in diameter with a 200kmwide eye. This isn’t really the same as a hurricane on Earth, more like something known as a polar low. These are short-lived atmospheric low-pressure systems, like depressions, with a top speed not exceeding 100km/h. Since that sighting in 1999, more have been seen in similar regions on Mars, never lasting for more than a day or two. Because of the whiteness of these clouds, it seems like they are dust free, meaning they are likely water ice clouds.
Number 8: Earth’s cyclones. We have the best understanding of the processes behind storms on Earth, and we have plenty of different types here. However, as we focus on the biggest storms on record, we have to look at Typhoon Tip, a Category 5 super typhoon that formed in 1979 near Japan.
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| Typhoon Tip in 1979 Source: NOAA / Public domain |
This monster typhoon was comparable to half the land area of the US, at 2,200 km in diameter. Its top sustained wind speed was an incredible305km/h, with a record low sea level pressure detected. Luckily, at its peak, it wasn’t close to land, and by the time it did make landfall, wind speeds had reduced to 130km/h. It was still enough to do damage, but it was nowhere near the deadliest cyclone on record.
Number 7: Venus’ polar vortices. Considering Venus can be our closest neighboring planet, it does seem to have been largely ignored by space agencies in the last few decades. However, Venus has the thickest atmosphere of any of the terrestrial planets, reaching 93bar at the surface, the equivalent of being900m underwater on Earth. Near the surface, the air flows slowly, however10s of kilometers up, Venus’ winds can be fast, around 400km/h. This means that Venus is also a super rotator. Venus does get lightning storms from time to time, but the really interesting storms are found around the poles again. Venus, like Titan, has polar vortices, but in the cause of Venus, they are over both poles. These ones are also much larger, around the size of Europe. Found towards the center of these vortices are not one, but two eyes. This is quite unique, and the case for it is currently unknown. Space agencies have begun eyeing up Venus again recently, so hopefully it won’t be too long before we get fresh data about this mysterious world.
Number 6: Uranus’ storms. A quick glance at a natural color image of Uranus doesn’t seem to reveal much in the way of dynamic activity at all. In the infrared, that is a different story. Large bands span the planet, and active storms light up against the cooler surroundings. A high contrast natural color view of Uranus from Hubble shows one of these storms, perhaps the biggest observed on Uranus, reaching two-thirds the size of the US. Uranus does seem to generally be a calmer place compared to Neptune, although this shows that giant storms are still possible here. This could be because Uranus doesn’t seem to emanate heat as much as Neptune, meaning the engine driving such storms would not be as strong.
Number 5: Jupiter’ polar vortices. If you thought Venus was impressive with two eyes around its polar vortices, check out this amazing configuration of vortices found around the poles of Jupiter. Around the north pole are 9 distinct vortices, kind of in a square shape with a massive cyclone found in the center. On the other side of the planet, around the south pole,
we find a similar phenomenon, except this time there are 7 cyclones in a hexagon shape. Just one of these cyclones is bigger than the United States in diameter. In enhanced natural light, these vortices are beautiful. We don’t know how permanent these features are, we’ve only discovered their existence since Juno arrived. If anything, we would expect them to merge, but they seem to be enduring. Nature certainly does like to throw us some curve-balls from time to time.
Number 4: Neptune’s Great Dark Spot. As Voyager 2 flew by Neptune in 1989, it got very lucky. At just that moment in Neptune’s existence, it was experiencing a massive storm that stretched out for 13,000km. Scientists though they had just discovered a storm comparable to Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, perhaps a permanent feature that had always been with Neptune.
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| Neptune’s Great Dark Spot Source: NASA / Jet Propulsion Lab / Public domain |
As such, they named it Neptune’s Great Dark Spot. But when Hubble was launched and pointed at Neptune, the spot had completely disappeared. Since then, Neptune has had other dark spots come and go, although perhaps not as big as the one Voyager saw. All in all, it seems that Neptune spends about half its time with a dark spot. The rest of the time, these storms may continue on as less powerful cyclones, before finding renewed strength depending on Neptune’s weather conditions.
Number 3: Jupiter’s Great Red Spot. It may surprise you to find out that Jupiter’s Great Red Spot only made it to number 3 on this list. Although, you should be aware that this storm is certainly no pushover, having existed since Galileo first spotted it back in 1665. During modern day observations, this storm was, at its maximum, the equivalent of three Earths across.
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| Jupiter’s Great Red Spot Source: NASA/JPL / Public domain |
Although it is smaller today than it ever has been, it certainly won’t go anywhere for another few decades at least, and as it continues to gobble up smaller storms, it could well be that it stays as a permanent feature. Wind speeds measure up to 430km/h around the walls, however in the center, an eye can indeed be found. Here, the air is relatively motionless, a stark contrast to what it’s like in any direction for thousands of kilometers.
Number 2: Saturn’s storm. Saturn, like a lot of the other planets with atmospheres, also has beautiful polar vortices, one found on each of its poles. Saturn’s south pole has a relatively normal, yet very large vortex and eye found in the center, with many smaller storms circling it. However, the really eye-catching storm is found in the north pole, which has been dubbed Saturn’s hexagon. In a similar fashion to Jupiter’s hexagon structure of storms, Saturn goes a step further and exhibits an actual hexagon which stretches for 30,000km across, each one of the sides of the hexagon about the size of Earth. The explanation for why this hexagon exists is not known for sure, but some experiments have recreated a hexagon in a circular tank of liquid by using just the right speed and gradient of flow. Cassini, as it passed by the central vortex, captured this stunning close-up of the clouds structure found in the center. However, these storms did not put Saturn at number 2 on the list. The biggest storm on Saturn was named the Great White Spot.
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| Great White Spot Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI / Public domain |
Leaving us with the biggest storm found in the solar system, number 1: The Carrington Event. Solar storms are a near constant occurrence, with millions of tones of charged particles from the Sun erupting into space. Coronal mass ejections, where charged matter that was suspended above the Sun’s limb is ejected into space by magnetic reconnection events are the sources of the most powerful storms.
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| Coronal mass ejections Source: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center / CC BY |
These storms effect the entire solar system, the effects of some being recorded all the way beyond Pluto with the New Horizons probe. And just like other storms we’ve talked about, not all solar storms are created equal. The biggest storm on record is the Carrington Event, the biggest coronal mass ejection to impact Earth back in 1859. The effects of it compressed Earth’s magnetic field to its atmosphere, creating a near global aurora, bright enough to read a newspaper at night. Had it happened today, it would have likely created major power outages across many countries, acting like a global EMP bomb. We were fortunate in 2013, as a Carrington size CME erupted from the Sun, thankfully in the opposite direction from Earth. But as far as big storms go, the Sun is definitely the winner. Look at how small we are compared to some coronal loops suspended by the Sun’s magnetic field. You may consider it cheeky to add solar storms to the list, but we couldn’t resist seeing as it has storm in its name. So, there we have it, some of the biggest, weirdest and most impressive storms found across our Solar System.
That's all. Thanks for read the article.
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