MacMillan Space Centre, it’s no surprise that the images have exploded in the meta verse with something of a big bang. The images, after all, tell a new chapter in the story of the universe.įor stargazers like Michael Unger, Programs Coordinator at the H.R. Who wouldn’t fall in love or at least be star-struck enough to tune in to see how the story turns out?įor stargazers like Michael Unger, Programs Coordinator at the H.R. There are births and deaths, jets and outflows, hot dust, steamy atmospheres and glittering cliffs.
#NASA PICTURE OF THE DAY FULLSCREEN FULL#
You may use a different browser or device to view this in full screen. Manage Print Subscription / Tax Receiptįull Screen is not supported on this browser version.Westcoast Homes & Design Previous Issues.Vancouver Sun Run: Sign up & event info.Will it give the hallowed storm a run for its money? We’ll be watching. Located along the edge of the South Temperate Belt on the opposite side of the planet from the GRS, Oval BA formed from the merger of three smaller white ovals between 1998 and 2ooo. In the meantime, Oval BA (nicknamed Red Spot Jr.) and about half the size of the GRS, waits in the wings. Credit: Christopher GoIf the shrinkage continues, “Great” may soon have to be dropped from the Red Spot’s title. II) The spot about half the width of the more familiar Great Red Spot. It’s the first significant new red spot ever observed on Jupiter and located at longitude 332 degrees (Sys. Their model also predicts radial or converging winds within the Spot that suck air from neighboring jet streams toward its center.
* In the Hassanzadeh and Marcus model, as the storm loses energy, it’s rejuvenated by vertical winds that transport hot and cold gases in and out of the Spot, restoring its energy.
* Eat or be eaten: A large vortex or whirlpool like the GRS can merge with and absorb energy from numerous smaller vortices carried along by the jet streams. Once a large storm forms, it can sustain itself for much longer than a hurricane on Earth, which plays itself out soon after making landfall. At least three factors appear to be at play: Credit: Voyager 1 / NASAĬlearly, the GRS waxes and wanes but exactly what makes it persist? By all accounts, it should have dissipated after just a few decades in Jupiter’s turbulent environment, but a new model developed by Pedram Hassanzadeh, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University, and Philip Marcus, a professor of fluid dynamics at the University of California-Berkeley, may help to explain its longevity. The passage of time is accelerated by a factor of 600,000. Was the “hollow” the genesis of a brand new Red Spot unrelated to the one first seen by astronomer Giovanni Cassini in 1665? Or was it the resurgence of Cassini’s Spot? 14-frame animation showing the circulation of Jupiter’s atmosphere spans 24 Jovian days, or about 10 Earth days. This begs the question of what happened in 1831. Surely something so prominent wouldn’t be missed. According to Rogers, no observations or sketches of that era mention it. Even more fascinating, the Great Red Spot may have even disappeared altogether from 1713 to 1830 before reappearing in 1831 as a long, pale “hollow”. Despite its smaller girth, this Jovian hurricane’s winds pack more punch than ever. Rogers also estimated a max wind speed of 300 mph, up from about 250 mph in 2006. In size and shape it greatly resembles the current Red Spot. Recent work done by expert astrophotographer Damian Peach using the WINJUPOS program to precisely measure the GRS in high resolution photos over the past 10 years indicates a continued steady shrinkage:ĭrawings by Cassini of what is presumably the Great Red Spot from 1665 to 1677. Nearly one hundred years later in 1979, the Spot’s north-south extent has remained virtually unchanged, but it’s girth had shrunk to 25,000 km (15,535 miles) or just shy of two Earth diameters. You couldn’t miss it even in those small brass refractors that were the standard amateur observing gear back in the day. In the 1880s the GRS resembled a huge blimp gliding high above white crystalline clouds of ammonia and spanned 40,000 km (25, 000 miles) across. 1, 1880 by French artist and astronomer Etienne Trouvelot showing transiting moon shadows and a much larger Great Red Spot. Back then it really did span three Earths. When I was a kid in the ’60s peering through my Edmund 6-inch reflector, not only was the Spot decidedly red, but it was extremely easy to see. Jupiter’s most celebrated atmospheric beauty mark, the Great Red Spot (GRS), has been shrinking for years.
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