It's amazing to think of a weather system so large, so powerful, that it's been active for more than a dozen generations . . . but that's what's been happening on Jupiter. The Daily Mail reports:
Nasa scientists have been able to get a detailed look inside the biggest storm in our solar system, Jupiter's Great Red Spot, which has raged from 200 to 350 years.
Using thermal images gathered from 26ft ground-based telescopes, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory has been able to extract new information about the structure of the storm, reports the Daily Galaxy website.
'This is our first detailed look inside the biggest storm of the solar system,' said Glenn Orton, a senior research scientist at JPL in California, who was one of the authors of the paper.
'We once thought the Great Red Spot was a plain old oval without much structure, but these new results show that it is, in fact, extremely complicated.'
. . .
Sky gazers have been observing the Great Red Spot in one form or another for hundreds of years, with continuous observations of its current shape dating back to the 19th century.
The spot, which is a cold region averaging about -260 degrees Fahrenheit is so wide about three Earths could fit inside its boundaries.
Jupiter's atmosphere has a zig-zag pattern of 12 jet streams which make up its signature pastel-toned bands. Earth, by comparison, has only two jet streams.
The Great Red Spot is sandwiched between two of these jets streams, forcing the winds that power those perimeter winds to deflect around the spot.
There's more at the link, including more (and larger) photographs. Interesting and recommended reading.
Peter
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