Jupiter: Galileo, Voyager, Etc.

Rxke · 2006-02-02 11:27:35

"It's our suspicion that the Trojans are small Kuiper Belt objects..."

Now *those* would be worth visiting... primordial stuff, in Lagrange, wow...

Palomar · 2006-03-04 08:38:19

The official name of the new storm is "Oval BA," but "Red Jr." might be better. It's about half the size of the famous Great Red Spot and almost exactly the same color.
Oval BA first appeared in the year 2000 when three smaller spots collided and merged.

Oval BA has been changing colors in recent months. It was white in November 2005, slowly turned brown in December and then red a few weeks ago.

*How terrific that we're able to actually see and follow developments similar to how the GRS developed hundreds of years ago.

The Great Red Spot is the most powerful storm on Jupiter, indeed, in the whole solar system...The top of the storm rises 8 km above surrounding clouds. It takes a powerful storm to lift material so high..."
Oval BA may have strengthened enough to do the same

"Some of Jupiter's white ovals have appeared slightly reddish before, for example in late 1999, but not often and not for long...It will indeed be interesting to see if Oval BA becomes permanently red"

--Cindy

Palomar · 2006-03-18 07:38:22

Photo of Red Jr.

*Nice. Says Red Jr. trails the GRS by an hour; is currently Earth-sized.

RedStreak · 2006-05-12 12:52:20

Photo of Red Jr.
*Nice. Says Red Jr. trails the GRS by an hour; is currently Earth-sized.

Red Jr. should be an extremely interesting Jovian phenomena to follow. I heard theories before the trio of oval clouds merging that the original Great Red Spot formed in such a manner.

Perhaps as the Great Red Spot and most of Jupiter's weather fades Red Jr. will grow, even surpassing or merging with the remnants of its predicessor to become the New Great Red Spot!

This raises a faint possibility that the spot Galileo first spotted (no pun intended) might have been a different Red Spot.

Hopefully observing this immense cyclone will become at least a secondary objective to the New Horizon Fly-by and the upcoming Juno missions. I suggest emailing to Alen Stern, project manager of New Horizons, to dedicate some time to observing Red Spot Jr.

Palomar · 2006-05-16 12:11:29

Red Jr. should be an extremely interesting Jovian phenomena to follow. I heard theories before the trio of oval clouds merging that the original Great Red Spot formed in such a manner.

*Hello. Yes, I've read that theory too.

Perhaps as the Great Red Spot and most of Jupiter's weather fades Red Jr. will grow, even surpassing or merging with the remnants of its predicessor to become the New Great Red Spot!

I was thinking about a possible merger of the two earlier today. What would the time frame be for such an event, I wonder?

Hopefully observing this immense cyclone will become at least a secondary objective to the New Horizon Fly-by and the upcoming Juno missions. I suggest emailing to Alen Stern, project manager of New Horizons, to dedicate some time to observing Red Spot Jr.

One would certainly hope so. Good suggestion...

--Cindy

Palomar · 2006-10-11 05:04:14

SpaceNut pointed this out to me elsewhere:

Jupiter's Little Red Spot Growing Stronger
The highest wind speeds in Jupiter's Little Red Spot have increased and are now equal to those in its older and larger sibling, the Great Red Spot, according to observations with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.
The Little Red Spot's winds, now raging up to approximately 400 miles per hour, signal that the storm is growing stronger, according to the NASA-led team that made the Hubble observations. The increased intensity of the storm probably caused it to change color from its original white in late 2005, according to the team.

Excellent!

You go, Red Jr.!

Thanks for the update, SpaceNut. That must have come across the newswire in the evening (?).

Two big storms for Jupiter, for how long I wonder? Will be great if Red Jr.'s longevity also rivals the GRS. If it does get larger, as large as the GRS, I wonder if they'll eventually merge. However, each is "traveling" in the opposition direction to the other around Jupiter (different "streams"). Is collision even possible? Will definitely stay tuned...

New Mars Forums

Announcement

#26 2006-02-02 11:27:35

Re: Jupiter: Galileo, Voyager, Etc.

#27 2006-03-04 08:38:19

Re: Jupiter: Galileo, Voyager, Etc.

#28 2006-03-18 07:38:22

Re: Jupiter: Galileo, Voyager, Etc.

#29 2006-05-12 12:52:20

Re: Jupiter: Galileo, Voyager, Etc.

#30 2006-05-16 12:11:29

Re: Jupiter: Galileo, Voyager, Etc.

#31 2006-10-11 05:04:14

Re: Jupiter: Galileo, Voyager, Etc.

Board footer