ilan
08-25-2019, 04:42 PM
Storms on Jupiter are disturbing the planet's colorful belts
Radio, IR and optical observations show evolution of plumes and their impact on belts and zones
University of California - Berkeley | August 22, 2019
Storm clouds rooted deep in Jupiter's atmosphere are affecting the planet's white zones and colorful belts, creating disturbances in their flow and even changing their color.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/images/2019/08/190822130438_1_540x360.jpg
Thanks to coordinated observations of the planet in January 2017 by six ground-based optical and radio telescopes and NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, a University of California, Berkeley, astronomer and her colleagues have been able to track the effects of these storms -- visible as bright plumes above the planet's ammonia ice clouds -- on the belts in which they appear.
The observations will ultimately help planetary scientists understand the complex atmospheric dynamics on Jupiter, which, with its Great Red Spot and colorful, layer cake-like bands, make it one of the most beautiful and changeable of the giant gas planets in the solar system.
One such plume was noticed by amateur astronomer Phil Miles in Australia a few days before the first observations by the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, and photos captured a week later by Hubble showed that the plume had spawned a second plume and left a downstream disturbance in the band of clouds, the South Equatorial Belt. The rising plumes then interacted with Jupiter's powerful winds, which stretched the clouds east and west from their point of origin.
Three months earlier, four bright spots were seen slightly north of the North Equatorial Belt. Though those plumes had disappeared by 2017, the belt had since widened northward, and its northern edge had changed color from white to orangish brown.
"If these plumes are vigorous and continue to have convective events, they may disturb one of these entire bands over time, though it may take a few months," said study leader Imke de Pater, a UC Berkeley professor emerita of astronomy. "With these observations, we see one plume in progress and the aftereffects of the others."
The analysis of the plumes supports the theory that they originate about 80 kilometers below the cloud tops at a place dominated by clouds of liquid water. A paper describing the results has been accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal and is now online.
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I found an image showing some of the plume activity. - ilan
https://www.sciencealert.com/images/2019-08/jup-3.jpg
Two bright white plumes (centre) on Jupiter, with a larger downstream disturbance to their right.
(Imke de Pater, Robert Sault, Chris Moeckel, Michael Wong, Leigh Fletcher)
Radio, IR and optical observations show evolution of plumes and their impact on belts and zones
University of California - Berkeley | August 22, 2019
Storm clouds rooted deep in Jupiter's atmosphere are affecting the planet's white zones and colorful belts, creating disturbances in their flow and even changing their color.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/images/2019/08/190822130438_1_540x360.jpg
Thanks to coordinated observations of the planet in January 2017 by six ground-based optical and radio telescopes and NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, a University of California, Berkeley, astronomer and her colleagues have been able to track the effects of these storms -- visible as bright plumes above the planet's ammonia ice clouds -- on the belts in which they appear.
The observations will ultimately help planetary scientists understand the complex atmospheric dynamics on Jupiter, which, with its Great Red Spot and colorful, layer cake-like bands, make it one of the most beautiful and changeable of the giant gas planets in the solar system.
One such plume was noticed by amateur astronomer Phil Miles in Australia a few days before the first observations by the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, and photos captured a week later by Hubble showed that the plume had spawned a second plume and left a downstream disturbance in the band of clouds, the South Equatorial Belt. The rising plumes then interacted with Jupiter's powerful winds, which stretched the clouds east and west from their point of origin.
Three months earlier, four bright spots were seen slightly north of the North Equatorial Belt. Though those plumes had disappeared by 2017, the belt had since widened northward, and its northern edge had changed color from white to orangish brown.
"If these plumes are vigorous and continue to have convective events, they may disturb one of these entire bands over time, though it may take a few months," said study leader Imke de Pater, a UC Berkeley professor emerita of astronomy. "With these observations, we see one plume in progress and the aftereffects of the others."
The analysis of the plumes supports the theory that they originate about 80 kilometers below the cloud tops at a place dominated by clouds of liquid water. A paper describing the results has been accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal and is now online.
______________________________
I found an image showing some of the plume activity. - ilan
https://www.sciencealert.com/images/2019-08/jup-3.jpg
Two bright white plumes (centre) on Jupiter, with a larger downstream disturbance to their right.
(Imke de Pater, Robert Sault, Chris Moeckel, Michael Wong, Leigh Fletcher)
