Posted on 05/22/2008 10:21:40 AM PDT by blam
Third red spot erupts on Jupiter
18:03 22 May 2008
NewScientist.com news service
David Shiga
Three red spots now adorn Jupiter – the Great Red Spot at right, Red Spot Junior at lower left and the third red spot just above it, as revealed by the Hubble Space Telescope (Image: NASA/ESA/M Wong/I de Pater/University of California, Berkeley)
A third giant red storm has flared up on Jupiter, joining the Great Red Spot and the recently developed Red Spot Junior. The spot, along with new measurements of record-high wind speeds on Red Spot Junior, suggest the solar system's largest planet is experiencing a time of global upheaval.
Jupiter's Great Red Spot is an ancient, hurricane-like storm that may have been raging for 340 years or more, based on early observations with telescopes. At three times the width of Earth, it is the largest storm in the solar system.
It was recently joined by a similar, but smaller storm called Red Spot Junior. Red Spot Junior grew out of the merger of three smaller, white storms between 1998 and 2000 and turned red in 2006. It is about the size of Earth.
Now, a third red spot, about half the size of Red Spot Junior, has broken out on the giant gaseous planet. The spot, previously a white storm, now appears red in Hubble Space Telescope images taken on 9 and 10 May. The observations were led by Imke de Pater of the University of California, Berkeley, US.
No one knows for sure what gives the three spots their red colour. But one theory is that especially violent storms dredge up material from deeper in Jupiter's atmosphere, such as phosphorus-containing molecules, which undergo chemical reactions that turn them red when exposed to sunlight.
Ferocious winds
The cloud
(Excerpt) Read more at space.newscientist.com ...
Interesting, thanks for the post. Now we need more Red states as well!
How ever did the dems get to be blue when (communist) red best suits them?
Jovian global warming?
Captain Algore, Captain Algore, report to central casting.
Bush’s fault.
The red state/blue state switch happened in 2000, I think.
Oh well, just pretend red is for “red-blooded”.
It’s all the fault of the networks during the 2000 election, at least that’s when I remember the Red-Blue labels. Especially Tim Russert and his damn wipe-slate that made the term “Florida Florida Florida” semi-iconic.
Is the government of Jupiter allowing aid for the people devastated by this storm?
And is Jupiter getting warmer???
Right!
BTW, I vividly remember seeing the Playhouse 90 adaptation of Alas, Babylon when I was a kid, but my search for a tape or kinescope of the production has proven fruitless. It may well be lost, unfortunately.
What’s so jovial about global warming?! You see, it’s so bad it’s spreading to other planets! George Bush is destroying the universe!!!
They used to change the color year to year but somehow they stopped doing it and we became red states. Probably a ploy on the Dems part to make us seem radical.
I’d rather see red than feel blue.
And is Leon getting LARGER?
Bush’s fault.
Ahem...
BUSH's FAULT
ok i wan’t first - but mine is better formatted
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.