Last month, the Hubble Space Telescope turned to Jupiter, capturing more than 400 million miles of giant planets from Earth and its icy moon Europa.
These images reveal a new storm on Jupiter, giving scientists a compelling snapshot of the gas giant’s ever-changing weather. Running around the planet at 350 miles per hour (560 kilometers), the latest storm is located in Hubble View on the upper left of Jupiter.
The hurricane was spotted on Aug. 18, a week before Hubble’s appearance on Jupiter. Two more storms later appeared at the same latitude.
Jupiter was located 406 million miles (653 million kilometers) from Earth when the Hubble Space Telescope observed the planet. Hubble, a joint project between NASA and the European Space Agency, takes pictures of the outer planets of the solar system every year to see changes in their hurricanes, winds and clouds, according to NASA.
The timing of Hubble’s 25 Aug Gust observations was apt to study Jupiter’s new storm system. NASA said hurricanes usually form every six years in a single latitude band on Jupiter.
Hubble’s ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared light image has small, spherical features with “red, white and blue” intricate colors on the back of the plum, NASA said in a release with images. “Such distinctive features are usually dispersed on Jupiter, changing only the colors of the clouds and the speed of the wind, but similar storms on Saturn led to long-term vortices.
“The differences between the storms of Jupiter and Saturn may be related to the abundance of conflicting water in their atmosphere, as these hurricanes can handle the huge amount of water vapor stored energy erupting,” NASA said.
Jupiter’s famous Great Red Spot is also clearly visible in Hubble’s new images. The cyclone stretches for 9,800 miles (15,800 kilometers), large enough to fit under the Earth, but has been steadily shrinking in telescopic observations since the 1930s, NASA said.
Scientists do not know why the Great Red Spot is shrinking.
The companion storm south of the Great Red Spot is also demonstrating some changes in Hubble’s recent observations. Oval B.A. Or a small cyclone called Red Spot Jr., which appeared red on Jupiter in 2006. But later it turned white.
According to NASA, the Oval B.A.
“This could signal that Red Spot Jr. is on its way to turning into a cousin-like color once again,” NASA said.
“Hubble’s picture shows Jupiter clearing the white clouds of its white height, especially the equatorial side of the planet, where orange hydrocarbon smog wraps around it.”
Europa, one of Jupiter’s four largest moons, appears on the left side of the planet in Hubble’s observation from 25 Aug Gust. Europe’s global ice shell covers a buried ocean that can accommodate elements for life.
NASA’s old mission is currently orbiting Jupiter while studying the atmosphere and internal structure of the gas giant.
Jupiter is currently developing two more robotic missions. NASA’s Europa Clipper mission is set to launch in 2024 to repeat Europa’s repeated close-up flyby, while ESA’s Juice spacecraft is set to head to Jupiter in 2022 and eventually enter orbit around the solar system’s largest moon, Ganymede.
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