The Weather on Jupiter

[Mike Peregrine]

May present some better chase ops for chasers these days ... not quite as many congested roads.

The south equatorial cloud belt has disappeared completely in the last few months. When it reappears, it will be pretty cool to watch, with storms suddenly erupting around that latitude of the planet:

"I'll be watching every chance I get," Wesley said. "The revival will likely be sudden and dramatic, with planet-circling groups of storms appearing over the space of just a week or so."

Most people can resolve that band on their scopes on a good night.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/space/05/20/jupiter.cloud.belt.missing/index.html?hpt=C2

 

[Jason Persoff]

I love Jupiter weather. I was shocked to learn in the 1990s that the Red Spot and its sister storms are actually HIGH pressure systems and not low pressure systems. They're not quite analagous to terrestrial storms. It's pretty cool.

 

[Mike Peregrine]

Yeah ... it's anticyclonic (but in the southern hemisphere). Even though it's high pressure, the winds are booking along at a brisk 400 mph. It eats smaller storms (spots) that show up around it from time to time. It's quite a beast -

 

[BHastings]

There's a bit more information at space.com: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/missing-jupiter-cloud-belt-mystifies-scientists-100521.html

I found this particular bit interesting: the speculation that the belt is not gone - just hidden by ammonia-cirrus clouds higher up in the atmosphere.

As you hinted at, Mike, this is something that has happened before, and scientists and astronomers will be watching for it to reappear. I know that NASA's Infrared Telescope facility has imaged Jupiter before -- I wonder if they'd learn anything interesting by scanning it in Infrared when the band begins to re-emerge.

I'm itching to get out my telescope and take a peek at Jupiter -- I just need the convergence of clear skies and the willpower to get up that early in the morning.