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Sweet photo!; of Jupiter
Topic Started: Aug 2 2006, 10:29 AM (289 Views)
Mark
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HOLY CARP!!!
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A false-color composite near-infrared image of Jupiter and its moon Io, taken July 20 Hawaii time (July 21 UT) by the Keck II telescope on Mauna Kea using adaptive optics (AO) to sharpen the image.

Images taken in narrow band filters centered at 1.29 and 1.58 microns (shown in gold in this image) detect sunlight reflected off Jupiter’s upper cloud deck—the same clouds that are seen in visible light. The narrow band image at 1.65 micron (shown in blue) shows sunlight reflected back from hazes lying just above these clouds. The image was sharpened using the RegiStax software, developed by Cor Berrevoets. The fact that Io looks larger in the blue than in the other colors is an artefact of the image processing. Because Jupiter is much less bright in the methane band (1.65 filter), it had to be brightened relative to the other colors, which increased Io's apparent size.

The planet Jupiter is 143,000 km (90,000 miles) across. The Great Red Spot is about twice the diameter of Earth, while Red Spot Jr. has a diameter nearly equal to that of Earth. Resolution is about 0.1 arcseconds, or 370 kilometers (250 miles). The AO system used the satellite Io as its reference star. Io itself is visible in the upper right corner in the green, red and blue colors of the 1.29, 1.58 and 1.65 micron filters, respectively. The motion of the satellite with respect to Jupiter during the observing sequence is clearly seen.

Red Spot Jr., which is below the Great Red Spot, is not as bright, either because its clouds are less dense and thus reflect less light, or because the tops of the clouds are not as high as those of the larger spot. The red outline shows the approximate area covered by the 5-micron band mosaic shown on the right.


Article...
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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
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ivorythumper
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I am so adjective that I verb nouns!
You can't fool me -- I had a marble that looked just like that.

But really, :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: photo!
The dogma lives loudly within me.
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Optimistic
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HOLY CARP!!!
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The Great Red Spot is about twice the diameter of Earth


Talk about putting things into perspective :o
PHOTOS

I must have a prodigious quantity of mind; it takes me as much as a week, sometimes, to make it up.
- Mark Twain


We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
-T. S. Eliot
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The 89th Key
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Let's get some ICBMs and blow it outta the sky! :sword:

Rather, ISBM... :lol:

Get it?

Bueller?

Bueller?
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Mark
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HOLY CARP!!!
The Great Red Spot is a great anti-cyclonic (high pressure) storm akin to a hurricane on Earth, but it is enormous (three Earths would fit within its boundaries) and it has persisted for at least the 400 years that humans have observed it through telescopes. Since it is anti-cyclonic in Jupiter's Southern hemisphere, the rotation is counterclockwise, with a period of about 6 days. (A hurricane in Earth's Southern hemisphere rotates clockwise because it is a low pressure system.) The clouds associated with the Spot appear to be about 8 km above neighboring cloud tops. The following two figures show a recent Galileo view of the Great Red Spot, and a closeup of the turbulence in its vicinity.

A Galileo "true color" image of the Great Red Spot in 1996 (Ref)

Posted Image


Turbulence near the Great Red Spot

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The Coriolis effects that are responsible for cyclones and anti-cyclones on Earth are greatly magnified on Jupiter, which has a rotational frequency about 2 1/2 times that of Earth, but this alone would not account for the persistence and size of the Great Red Spot. There are other features similar to the Great Red Spot on the surface (note the white spots in the above images) but none are as large as the Great Red Spot.

Presumably the persistence of the Great Red Spot is related to the fact that it never comes over land, as in the case of a hurricane on Earth, and that it is driven by Jupiter's internal heat source. Computer simulations suggest that such large disturbances may be stable on Jupiter, and that stronger disturbances tend to absorb weaker ones, which may explain the size of the Great Red Spot. Furthermore, as for the clouds in general, we do not understand fully the reason for the coloring. It has been suggested that certain compounds of phosphorous are responsible for the reddish-brown hue, but this remains somewhat speculative. Thus, we understand the broad properties, but not all the detailed features of this remarkable phenomenon.
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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
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big al
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Bull-Carp
It will be interesting to see if Red Spot Jr. disappears, merges with the Great Red Spot, or remains separate for an extended time.

Big Al
Location: Western PA

"jesu, der simcha fun der man's farlangen."
-bachophile
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ivorythumper
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I am so adjective that I verb nouns!
I never would have guessed that the Red Spot was atmospheric -- I assumed it was geo- (saturno-?) logical.

Very cool stuff!
The dogma lives loudly within me.
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John Jacob Jingoism Smith
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Middle Aged Carp
That planet looks like Jerry Garcia's thought baloon.
Jingoism

You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.
Anne Lamott
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apple
one of the angels
gene thinks it is a really cool photo and wants me to buy him a telescope like yours.
it behooves me to behold
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Fizzygirl
Fulla-Carp
Definately sweet! Thanks for posting!
Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a purpose. ~ Garrison Keillor


My latest videos.

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sue
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HOLY CARP!!!
Awesome photo, Mark. How small we are in comparison to Jupiter....what a powerful, amazing planet.
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