Rings Around Planets, Atmospheric Superrotation, and Their Great Spots

A common explanation is offered of the facts that the (outer) planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune (i) have ring systems inside their magnetospheres, (ii) show alternating atmospheric super- and sub-rotation in latitude belts, and (iii) have great (coloured) whirling spots in their atmospheres, at latitudes of maximal shear flow. The common reason, so we argue, is the action of magnetic torques between the various ring systems in non-synchronous rotation which drive electric currents, help ionize the orbiting gas, and redistribute angular momentum. Very similar reasoning has been used earlier – though incorrect in detail – to explain the complicated system of torsional oscillations in the solar convection zone.