Jet Streams Across Worlds: From Earth's Winds to the Giant Planets - Keren Duer-Milner (PhD)

Earth’s weather is a gentle illusion. We experience a swirl of blue and white, a passing storm, a change in the breeze. But look further out, and the rules of the atmosphere change entirely. Why do some planets display broad, banded highways of wind and storms that could swallow Earth whole, while ours remain structured and fragile?

Is our weather just a "tame" version of a much more violent universal reality?

Why do some planets display broad, banded jet streams and enormous storms while others have gentler, more structured winds?

In this talk we’ll tour the atmospheres of Earth and the giant planets - Jupiter and Saturn - to compare how jet streams form and behave on very different worlds. Keren will describe the visible appearance of each atmosphere, Earth’s jet streams and weather systems, and the striped, storm-filled skies of the giants, and explain the key reasons for their differences:

the gaseous composition of the giants, their much larger sizes, and their rapid rotation rates.

Using striking images and simple animations, we’ll see how rotation and convection organize flow into alternating east–west jets, why giant planets host long‑lived vortices, and how internal heat (still active from the time these planets formed) versus sunlight shapes their atmospheres. No technical background is required - just curiosity about weather on our world and beyond.

We’ll also explore the tools and techniques scientists use to study these winds, from spacecraft missions and ground- and space-based telescopes to laboratory experiments and computer simulations, and how each approach reveals different pieces of the puzzle.

As a member of the Juno science team, Keren will share exciting, up-to-date results from the Juno mission that illuminate Jupiter’s deep winds, interior structure, and the origins of its banded circulation. The talk will conclude with the open questions driving current research and how studying these planets helps us interpret atmospheres across the cosmos.

About the Speaker

Keren Duer-Milner is a postdoctoral researcher at Leiden Observatory and SRON Netherlands, specializing in the atmospheric dynamics of solar system giants and exoplanets. Her research aims to uncover the fundamental physical mechanisms governing global circulation - focusing on zonal jets, meridional circulation cells, gravitational signatures, and rotational synchronization.

Employing a multifaceted approach, Keren integrates theoretical models and advanced numerical simulations (GCMs) with observational data from NASA's Juno spacecraft and emission spectroscopy. Currently collaborating with Prof. Yamila Miguel, she previously completed her Ph.D. and M.Sc. at the Weizmann Institute of Science, investigating the deep atmospheric dynamics of Jupiter and Saturn under Prof. Yohai Kaspi. She holds a B.Sc. in Earth Sciences.

Doors open at 19:00 – Arrive early, grab a seat, and settle in.

Talk starts at 19:30

Stick around afterward – good conversations don’t have closing times.

The Space Bundle for €30 to attend both this and the May 3 talk with Ignacio Reyes-Raffo, PhD. Exclusive price for these two space talks only.

Visit the Space Talks Bundle page