[cogitator]

Just for everyone's information:

Europe's Mars Express orbiter and lander (Beagle-2) get to Mars in December;

NASA's two Mars missions get to Mars in January;

Stardust's encounter with Comet Wild, with capture of comet material in the tail (and return of samples to Earth in 2006) will be on January 2, 2004;

and Cassini arrives at Saturn in July 2004.

This is going to be an amazing year in solar system exploration!

And the bad news: Japan's mission, which was to be orbital, is now apparently headed for a crash landing on Mars December 14 (and they may not be able to change course). Because this was supposed to be an orbital mission only, they didn't sterilize the ship as well as for the lander missions, so this provides a possibility that there are microbes on the spacecraft that could "contaminate" Mars. Apparently the main engine isn't working, but the attitude adjustment thrusters might be used to steer it away from Mars.

[KantianBurke]

Facts About Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the sun, and is about 5 times as far from the Sun as the Earth.
It has a diameter that is about 11.25 times the diameter of the Earth, therefore about 1,400 Earths can fit inside Jupiter.
Jupiter has a mass that is about 2.5 times more mass than all the objects, excluding the Sun, that make up the rest of the solar system.
It is a giant ball of gas, comprised mostly of hydrogen (90 percent) and helium (10 percent). Its composition is almost identical to that of the Sun, and it is sometimes said that Jupiter is a sun that didn't make it.
Jupiter, because of its liquid metallic hydrogen core, has a magnetic field that is about 20 times as strong as the magnetic field of Earth. Its field is inverted as compared to Earth and its magnetosphere is about 16 times larger than a full moon.
The force of gravity at the visible surface (cloud tops) is about 2.5 times that of Earth. This means that a 200 pound man would weigh about 500 pounds on Jupiter.
Jupiter rotates on its axis faster than any other planet. Its period of rotation about its axis at the equator is almost 10 hours. Latitudes toward the poles have longer periods of rotation. This phenomenon of differential rotation is indicative of gaseous objects, which then will also appear to be flattened at the poles.
The fast rotation causes the clouds to be wound up into parallel bands of weather about the planet. Whitish strips, called Zones, are high pressure regions that are upward moving warm gases. Dark reddish-brown strips, called Belts, are low pressure regions of downward moving cool gases. Gases from the Zones spill over into the Belts.
The Great Red Spot, discovered in 1665 by Giovanni Domenico Cassini, is a vast hurricane, such that 3 Earths placed side by side can fit inside. It is called a Super Zone, because it is a high pressure zone in a higher than average high pressure zone.
This great spot rotates counter-clockwise once in 12 days. As it moves along with little friction drag, it absorbs smaller spots and then later ejects them. This seems to be what gives the great spot its stability. Also, as the spot moves along parallel to the weather bands, it causes a tremendous amount of turbulence.
Jupiter also has a number of other spots. Many the size of earth only persist about 1 to 2 years.
Jupiter has about 16 moons, 4 of which can be seen in a line when using a telescope. These moons were first seen by Galileo and are called the Galilean satellites. They are: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.

http://www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/News/fyi/dec1197/redspot/jupefact.htm

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Damn -incredible.

[July 4th]

Looks like a Monet, especially at higher res.

[LiteKeeper]

bump

[pabianice]

Just as I suspected! SUVs polluted Jupiter's atmosphere and destroyed all life there! You can see the deadly smog swirling in the picture...

[colorado tanker]

Beautiful.

[theDentist]

Jupiter's got gas, and no finger for some child to pull.

[r9etb]

Japan's mission, which was to be orbital, is now apparently headed for a crash landing on Mars December 14

Dang -- what is it about Mars, anyway? Looks like most Mars Missions have ended up failing in one way or another.

[r9etb]

Here is more info on the Japanese Mars probe.

[headsonpikes]

Awe bump.

[Serb5150]

Amazing.

[general_re]

For those on a broadband connection, you can download the image in its full glory here (13.8 MB .tif file @ 1900x2400)....

[RightWhale]

The Red Spot: sure looks like there is something going on below the atmosphere. Something at least semi-permanent sticking up from the solid surface. Is there a solid surface?

[RightOnline]

VERY cool. Link bookmarked. Bump.

[P.O.E.]

Looks like dessert!

A beautiful picture. Thanks

[Skooz]

Thanks for the picture. It's now my wallpaper.