Comments on: Jupiter, spot by spot

By: Only Two Months Old, Jupiter’s Third Red Spot Bites the Dust | Discoblog | Discover Magazine

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:01:25 +0000

[...] noticed that a third red spot had showed up on Jupiter near the famous Great Red Spot and Red Spot Junior, which itself had appeared just two years ago. The third spot—actually an earth-sized storm of [...]

By: Troy

Troy — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 06:32:34 +0000

Yet another cool picture. I was hoping they’d merge, but at least Red Jr. is still going to be making the rounds. I’ve heard Galileo was able to see the Red spot in his puny telescope, I’ve yet to see it in even a 4-1/2″ reflector, otherwise it would be a good back yard sight.

By: Spaceman Spiff

Spaceman Spiff — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 17:41:20 +0000

BA: “All three colors together make white, so the tops of the clouds must be warm, and have lots of hydrogen and methane.”

Well, maybe. But as you noted a few lines up, it might not be quite so simple. The point is that we’re seeing cloud tops of the two storms, and clouds – unlike gases- are composed of droplets, whose optical properties differ in detail from the gas phase molecules (for one – their scattering cross section per molecule is orders and orders of magnitude higher due to their larger size). A few more details would appear be in order before such a conclusion could be reached in confidence.

By: icemith

icemith — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 17:14:20 +0000

Without reading too much of what others have written about TGRS (The Great Red Spot), and Red Jr., I’m wondering about the (relative) close proximity effect and realised that they are both vertical ‘bodies’, maybe not unlike waterspouts here on Earth. The fact that two waterspouts can get pretty close and not mix or combine- imagine two spinning wheels, both spinning in the same direction, but actually opposite at the closest point- then the forces that enable a highly concentrated vertical low pressure stream would preclude combination. Thus they could approach quite closely. And remember their edges are still thousands of kilometers apart anyway, as seen in the photos.

And now a random question. Could the existence of the TGRS, etc, be explained as the result of a long ago, (middle ages event), impact of an asteroid, somewhat large, and relatively hot, passing down into the lower reaches of Jupe’s atmosphere, and is ‘boiling’ away, throwing off gaseous material which is welling up towards the surface, in a spiral fashion? I cannot reconcile a second spot, other than an offshoot in that lower atmosphere. Do waterspouts branch?

Ivan.

By: Elias Friedman

Elias Friedman — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 15:50:09 +0000

Hey!

This pic’s up as today’s APOD (Astronomy Picture of the Day)

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

By: Insight

Insight — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 09:13:07 +0000

Do you all know about the SpaceWeather service? They also send messages about other interesting astronomical phenomena such as about Red Spot Jr. This was in their email notice on July 17th which was the date of nearest approach of the two spots…

“RED JR. UPDATE: The two biggest storms on Jupiter have been converging for months, and this week they’re at closest approach. So far, Red Junior and the Great Red Spot are surviving the encounter with little disruption or weakening of either storm system.”

See the page and images at SpaceWeather.com and go to the July 17, 2006 news using the Archive search (upper right corner of page).

The July 17 message also included news about the inflatable satellite, Genesis. While you’re there, subscribe to their free email news service – low volume, interesting stuff – solar events, aurora alerts, meteor showers. Phil, I suggest you add the SpaceWeather URL to your links page because it’s a good source for real info about events in space that affect our daily lives.

By: Insight

Insight — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 09:06:42 +0000

See the page and images at SpaceWeather.com and go to the July 17, 2006 news using the Archive search (upper right corner of page).