Three Red Spots Mix it Up on Jupiter
- From: baalke@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:32:46 -0700 (PDT)
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2008-136
Three Red Spots Mix it Up on Jupiter
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
July 17, 2008
A new sequence of Hubble Space Telescope images offers an
unprecedented
view of a planetary game of Pac-Man among three red spots clustered
together in Jupiter's atmosphere. The images were taken by the Wide
Field and Planetary Camera 2, developed and built by NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
The time series shows the passage of the "Red Spot Jr." in a band of
clouds below (south) of the Great Red Spot. "Red Spot Jr." first
appeared on Jupiter in early 2006 when a previously white storm turned
red. This is the second time, since turning red, it has skirted past
its
big brother apparently unscathed.
But this is not the fate of "baby red spot," which is in the same
latitudinal band as the Great Red Spot. This new red spot first
appeared
earlier this year. The baby red spot gets ever closer to the Great Red
Spot in this picture sequence until it is caught up in its
anticyclonic
spin. In the final image, the baby spot is deformed and pale in color
and has been spun to the right (east) of the Great Red Spot. Amateur
astronomers' observations confirm that this pale spot is the migrating
baby spot.
The prediction is that the baby spot will now get pulled back into the
Great Red Spot "Cuisinart" and disappear for good. This is one
possible
mechanism that has powered and sustained the Great Red Spot for at
least
150 years.
These three natural-color Jupiter images were made from data acquired
on
May 15, June 28 and July 8, 2008, by JPL's Wide Field Planetary Camera
2. Each one covers 58 degrees of Jovian "latitude" and 70 degrees of
"longitude" (centered on 5 degrees South latitudeand 110, 121 and 121
degrees West longitude, respectively).
For images and more information, visit http://hubblesite.org/news/2008/27.
For more information about JPL's Wide Field and Planetary Cameras,
visit
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/missiondetails.cfm?mission=WFPC.
The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation
between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) and is managed by
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, Md. The Space
Telescope Science Institute (STScI) conducts Hubble science
operations.
The institute is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities
for Research in Astronomy, Inc., Washington, D.C.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Media contact: Whitney Clavin 818-354-4673
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
whitney.clavin@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Ray Villard 410-338-4514
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
villard@xxxxxxxxx
Amy Simon-Miller 301-286-6738
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
amy.simon@xxxxxxxx
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