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View larger. | This may not be the clearest image of Jupiter you’ve ever seen. The images from the spaceship are clearer. But it is the clearest image taken of Earth that we can remember. It’s not beautiful? It’s from the Hubble Space Telescope. The little moon on the left is Europa. Read below for several famous Jupiter storms, shown in this image. Image via NASA, ESA, STScI, A. Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center), MH Wong (University of California, Berkeley) and the OPAL team.
The Hubble Space Telescope captured this image of Jupiter on August 25, 2020, from a distance of 406 million miles (650 million kilometers) from Earth. It wasn’t then that Jupiter was closest to us this year. It was closest on July 15, a couple of days after Earth swept between Jupiter and the sun, as we do once a year. Still, in August, Jupiter and Earth were relatively close, which partly explains the clarity of this image, which shows Jupiter’s icy moon Europa (the sixth closest of the planet’s 79 known moons), as well as some famous storms in the dense atmosphere of Jupiter.
There are many interesting things to notice in this image.
First, look at Europa on the left of the planet. It is the smallest of the four Galilean moons of Jupiter and is believed to have an ocean beneath its icy surface, possibly containing the ingredients for life.
Now, look at the planet itself. You probably know that the bands we see are not on the planet’s surface; Instead, when we look at Jupiter, we only see the upper layers of its clouds. The image shows the Great Red Spot, a large storm larger in diameter than our entire Earth, rolling counterclockwise in the atmosphere over Jupiter’s southern hemisphere. NASA said the Red Spot crashes into the clouds in front of it:
… Forming a cascade of white and beige ribbons. The Great Red Spot is currently an exceptionally rich red color, with its core and outermost band a more intense red.
Researchers say the Great Red Spot is now around 9,800 miles (14,500 km) wide, large enough to swallow Earth. The superstorm is still shrinking as seen in telescopic observations dating back to 1930, but the reason for its shrinking size is a complete mystery.
Now … do you see the second oval point below the Great Red Spot? It is also a storm in Jupiter’s atmosphere, called Red Spot Jr. by scientists. This storm on Jupiter has a long history. NASA said:
Red Spot Jr. is the first storm astronomers have observed develop on a gas giant planet. The huge stain formed between 1998 and 2000, when three small, oval-shaped white storms merged. Two of the white spots have been observed since about 1915, but they may have been present even earlier. The third white spot appeared in 1939. In December 2005, the newly formed single white spot turned red, like the much older Great Red Spot.
And NASA also said:
For the past several years, Red Spot Jr. has been fading to its original shade of white after appearing red in 2006. However, now the core of this storm appears to be darkening slightly. This could hint that Red Spot Jr. is on its way to change to a more similar color to its cousin once again.
Now take a closer look at Jupiter’s cloud bands. Notice the bright, white, widespread storm in northern mid-latitudes (in the upper left of the Great Red Spot and Red Spot Jr). You can see it more clearly in the image below.
View larger. | The Hubble Space Telescope captured this image of Jupiter in ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared light on August 25, 2020. In this photo, the parts of Jupiter’s atmosphere that are higher in altitude, especially over the poles, appear red because of atmospheric particles. absorbing ultraviolet light. On the contrary, the areas of blue tones represent the ultraviolet light that is reflected off the planet. Image via NASA, ESA, STScI, A. Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center), MH Wong (University of California, Berkeley), and the OPAL team https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/hubble – capture-new-sharp-portrait-of-storms-jupiter /
NASA said this bright white storm is:
… Traveling around the planet at 350 miles (560 km) per hour. This single column erupted on August 18, 2020, and ground-based observers have discovered two more that appeared later at the same latitude.
While it is common for storms to emerge in this region about every six years, often with multiple storms at once, the timing of the Hubble observations is perfect to show the structure in the wake of the disturbance, during the early stages of its evolution. . . Behind the plume are small, rounded features with complex ‘red, white and blue’ colors in the Hubble ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared image. Such discrete features generally dissipate on Jupiter, leaving only changes in cloud colors and wind speed, but a similar storm on Saturn led to a long-lasting vortex. The differences in the aftermath of the Jupiter and Saturn storms may be related to the contrasting abundances of water in their atmospheres, as water vapor can govern the enormous amount of stored energy that can be released by these storm eruptions.
Bottom line: A beautiful new image of Jupiter from the Hubble Space Telescope, captured in August 2020, shows planet Europa’s icy moon, as well as several famous storms in Jupiter’s atmosphere.
Via NASA
