Stunning high-resolution photos of Jupiter find holes in the Great Red Spot

Jupiter, who dominates our solar system like Winston over The Continental in John Wick, is famous for the immense superstorm that swirls in its gaseous atmosphere known as the Great Red Spot. Centuries of observation have revealed few details about the gas giant’s brand, but thanks to the work of two telescopes and the enterprising Jovian spacecraft, Juno, astronomers have been able to peer into the Red Spot with unprecedented clarity and reveal some of its internal work.

A study, published in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series in April, used images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, the Gemini Observatory, and Juno’s observations over a three-year period to examine the Great Red Spot, the largest storm in the solar system. , in ultraviolet and infrared light.

“We want to know how Jupiter’s atmosphere works,” said Michael Wong, an astronomer at the University of California, Berkeley and first author of the article, in a press release. “This is where the teamwork of Juno, Hubble and Gemini comes in.”

The Gemini Observatory, located in Hawaii, was able to collect some of the highest-resolution infrared images from a terrestrial telescope using a technique known as “lucky images.” Images from ground-based telescopes can sometimes blur due to atmospheric effects, but lucky images can capture brief moments when those effects are minimal. The end result is images with clarity that rivals the output of telescopes in space.

The unprecedented analysis shows that the point, visible as a swirl of color on Jupiter’s face, looks “like a kind of bluff” in infrared light, according to Wong. Thick clouds cover most of the planet’s surface, so infrared light emanating from the heat generated inside Jupiter cannot always escape. The Hubble and Juno images cannot “see” as far away from the planet as Gemini, so the ground-based telescope was critical to understanding what lies within the Great Red Spot.

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Hubble has photographed the region many times and noticed a dark band, a black stripe against the deep reds of the storm. Astronomers were not sure what exactly this black band represented. With Gemini pointing at the Spot, the researchers were able to confirm that these are not different types of clouds, but holes. That’s where the notion of Jack-o-lantern comes from.

Gaps in the huge storm allow bright infrared light to be transmitted through the solar system. Thanks to Gemini’s giant telescopic eyes, we were able to see them.

“These coordinated observations demonstrate yet again that innovative astronomy is possible by combining the capabilities of Gemini telescopes with complementary ground and space facilities,” said Martin Still, director of the National Science Foundation’s astronomy program, which funds The Operation of Gemini.