5 Planetary Features That Redefine the Word Extreme
Earth provides only one example of how a planet can behave. Across the solar system, different gravity, chemistry, temperature, and atmospheric conditions produce landscapes and weather beyond ordinary experience.
These five features make that diversity visible.
Jupiter's Great Red Spot is a long-lived giant storm
The Great Red Spot is a vast rotating storm in Jupiter's atmosphere. Spacecraft and telescope observations show that its size, color, and structure change over time.
Saturn's north pole contains a hexagonal jet stream
A persistent six-sided atmospheric pattern surrounds Saturn's north pole. The hexagon is associated with a fast jet stream and has been observed in different seasons and wavelengths.
Olympus Mons rises as the solar system's largest known volcano
Olympus Mons is an enormous shield volcano on Mars. Lower Martian gravity and long-lived volcanic activity helped it spread across a vast area with relatively gentle outer slopes.
Enceladus sprays water-rich material into space
Fissures near the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus release plumes containing water vapor and ice grains. The material provides evidence for a subsurface ocean beneath the icy crust.
Pluto's heart-shaped plain renews its icy surface
Sputnik Planitia forms the bright western lobe of Pluto's heart-shaped region. The basin contains nitrogen-rich ice whose cellular patterns indicate slow geological activity.
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