New Storms Spotted on Jupiter
New Areas of Turbulence Around the Great Red Spot
The forecast for Jupiter calls for more storms. The Great Red Spot, a gigantic oval storm that has been raging on the solar system's largest planet for at least 300 years, is now getting company. Over the past few years, smaller and paler stormy spots have sprung up around it. The Great Red Spot itself changes over time, sometimes fading in color and sometimes (as it is doing now) becoming darker.
First Came Red Spot Jr.
In December 2005, three stormy white spots near Jupiter merged and changed to a reddish hue, drawing much attention. This region was nicknamed Red Spot Jr. Currently, as the Great Red Spot is once again darkening, Red Spot Jr. is losing some of its color.
Another New Red Spot Appears
On May 9 and 10, 2008, the Hubble Space Telescope, using its Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, imaged yet another small red storm in the vicinity of the Great Red Spot. The new spot, while much smaller than the original and junior, is still striking due to its similarity in color and placement. The new red spot may be short-lived, however. Astronomers forecast that the new little spot should meet up with the big spot by August, where it might be consumed by the giant. Alternatively, the little spot could be flung away.
Red Storm Color May Be Related to Altitude
The red color seen in storms on Jupiter is a subject still under study. One of the ideas is that the storms' colors is related to their height in the Jovian atmosphere. As on Earth, the strongest storms stretch to great heights. Towering cumulonimbus clouds on Earth that bring severe storms can break through the troposphere into the stratosphere. Information from all three of the red storms on Jupiter shows that the clouds rise up well above the cloud deck on Jupiter.
Location of the Storms on Jupiter
The Great Red Spot can be found, even through amateur telescopes, about 22 degrees south of the Jovian equator. Just above the Great Red Spot is a shear flow, where the winds on Jupiter are moving westward. Just below the Great Red Spot is another shear flow, where the winds are moving eastward. Sandwiched in between these shears are the reddish storms. However, the storms are not standing still. They, too, are floating along in Jupiter's atmosphere. The Great Red Spot is drifting eastward while Red Spot Jr. is drifting eastward. The two storms will pass each other in June. Since Red Spot Jr.'s creation, they pass each other every two years as they trek on their separate journeys around the planet.
The appearance of new storms on Jupiter may be a sign that the planet is undergoing climate change.
Sources: UC Berkeley, HST
