Geophysics Archives - Princeton Insights

September 5, 2024September 5, 2024

Traditional planet formation models: an exception or a need for a new model?

Review written by Vyshnavi Vennelakanti (Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Postdoc)

Have you ever wondered how planets are formed? Current theories of planet formation suggest that they likely form at the same time as their host stars from the same initial reservoir of gas and dust. All newly formed stars have a rotating disk around them called the protoplanetary disk. This disk contains lots of particles and gas molecules. There are two main theories that aim to explain planet formation from the protoplanetary disks of stars: the core-accretion theory and the gravitational instability theory.

March 17, 2022March 16, 2022

Proton Outflow Associated With Jupiter’s Auroral Processes

Review written by Cecilia Panfil (CHM, 2022) and Alexandra Libby (PNI, GS)

Abstract

Despite Jupiter’s aurora being the brightest in the solar system, the mechanism of its occurrence is not well understood. One peculiar phenomenon on Jupiter is the large quantities of protons in its magnetosphere. Recently, Dr. Jamey Szalay and his team were able to use data from the Juno spaceship to observe the protons flying away from Jupiter. This provides evidence that the protons are coming from Jupiter itself. The electric fields which drive protons away from Jupiter are likely intimately related to Jupiter’s auroral fields. With their novel observation, Szalay et al. provide a clue towards Jupiter’s complex auroral interactions.

July 16, 2020July 23, 2020

Predicting the intensity of tropical cyclones

Review written by Jaydeep Singh (MAT)

Forecasting the trajectory of tropical cyclones (TC), which are known as hurricanes when they appear in the Atlantic, remains an urgent meteorological challenge. The difficulties in TC prediction were laid bare during 2019’s Hurricane Dorian, a devastating Category 5 storm that swept through the Bahamas and the Southeastern United States. Like many Atlantic storms before it, Dorian underwent the process of rapid intensification (RI), catching scientists off guard with consecutive daily wind strength increases of over 30mph. The effect? Dorian transformed from a Category 2 to Category 5 storm in only two days. The staggering intensification of Atlantic storms raises the following question: what is the science behind these RI events, and how predictable are they?