Jupiter tiny spot goes from white to red

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Jupiter tiny spot goes from white to red
Black_Swastika Offer Upgrade User ID: 154011 United Kingdom 10/12/2006 01:10 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation	Jupiter tiny spot goes from white to red WASHINGTON - Just a little more than a year ago, the small spot on Jupiter was a pale white; now it matches the reddish hue of its bigger sibling, the Great Red Spot, and boasts 400 mph winds, according to new data from the Hubble Space Telescope. Both spots are actually fierce storms in Jupiter's atmosphere. While the red spot — at three times the size of Earth — is much more noticeable, strange things are happening to the smaller spot. Scientists aren't quite sure what's happening to the smaller storm, nicknamed the Little Red Spot or Red Spot Jr. but officially called "Oval BA." It probably gained strength as it shrunk slightly, the same way spinning ice skaters go faster when they move their arms closer, said NASA planetary scientist Amy Simon-Miller. Her findings from the Hubble data were published in the astronomical journal Icarus. As the storm has grown stronger it's probably picked up red material from lower in the Jupiter atmosphere, most likely some form of sulfur which turns red as part of a chemical reaction, she said. The color change took astronomers by surprise. And now they figure more surprises are in store as the solar system's largest planet goes into hiding from Earth's prying eyes until January, moving behind the sun. "We found that Jupiter tends to do interesting things behind the sun and we can't see it," Simon-Miller said. [link to news.yahoo.com]

Anonymous Coward User ID: 148450 United States 10/12/2006 01:15 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation	Re: Jupiter tiny spot goes from white to red "We found that Jupiter tends to do interesting things behind the sun and we can't see it," Simon-Miller said. Quoting: Black_Swastika Wow, maybe somebody should invent a telescope on a devise that can travel in space.... I think I would call it Hubb.... no I think we should name it Anonymous Coward....
Black_Swastika (OP) User ID: 154011 United Kingdom 10/12/2006 01:18 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation	Re: Jupiter tiny spot goes from white to red Probe peers into Venusian secrets Venus is an enigma, wrapped in a mystery, inside a dense cloud of carbon dioxide (CO2). But a suite of orbiting instruments is proving its ability to penetrate the thick atmosphere and create a new and dynamic picture of Earth's sister planet. Scientists at the Division of Planetary Sciences meeting in Pasadena, California, this week said that data streaming from the Venus Express probe had provided unprecedented detail of the Venusian atmosphere and the first-ever peek at its lower strata. They hope the spacecraft will help answer fundamental questions about the planet's atmospheric composition and dynamics, as well as solve key Venus puzzles: what drives its "super-rotation"; are its volcanoes active; and just what is the strange ultraviolet-absorbing substance swirling at the cloud tops? But for now, scientists are happy to report that all the instruments are in good working order and beaming back massive amounts of data. "It's a treasure trove of information," said David Grinspoon, a participating scientist with the mission, "and we've barely opened the chest and looked in." Open 'slots' The seven instruments on the spacecraft, in obit around Venus since April, are examining the planet over a wide swath of the spectrum: from ultraviolet to visible, to infrared, and even radio wavelengths. "Our main objective is to do a comprehensive study of the atmosphere," said Hakan Svedhem, Venus Express project scientist. [link to news.bbc.co.uk]
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