A new spin on rotating convection

Studying rotating convection under geo- and astrophysically relevant conditions has proven to be extremely difficult. For the rotating Rayleigh–Bénard system, van Kan et al. ( J. Fluid Mech., vol. 1010, 2025, A42) have now been able to massively extend the parameter space accessible by direct numerical simulations. Their progress relies on a rescaling of the governing Boussinesq equations, which vastly improves numerical conditioning (Julien et al. , arXiv:2410.02702). This opens the door for investigating previously inaccessible dynamical regimes and bridges the gap to the asymptotic branch of rapidly rotating convection.