The fifth planet in our solar system has experienced a significant change in the past few years. Jupiter, with a mass of 2.5 times all the other planets combined, is famous for its large size and “great red spot”. This spot is in fact a gigantic storm, twice as big as Earth, that has been churning for the past 300 years. A storm of such magnitude has been the focus of study and wonder since it was first discovered in 1879. 126 years later in August 2005, an amateur astronomer of the Philippines photographed a new “red spot” on Jupiter. The official name of this new storm is “Oval BA” but is commonly referred to as “Red Jr.”. Red Jr. first appeared in 2000 when three smaller storms collided and merged into a larger spot. Storms Oval BC and DE merged to form Oval BE, then finally in March 2000 BE and Oval FA combined to form BA. This process of merging storms is similar to a convective phenomenon like a powerful thunderstorm. Immediately after its creation, BE was just a larger white storm. To the astronomer’s surprise the spot has turned to a red color in recent months. High resolution pictures were obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope in April 2006 (picture link)

. These pictures show a close up view on the right of BA and the Great Red Spot near the far right edge. Another set of photographs released by the Gemini Observatory show the two spots brushing past each other (picture link).

This image was taken using a near infrared light with adaptive optics that compensate for the Earth’s turbulence. This image was taken from the ground, and nearly rivals the image from the Hubble Space telescope. The color of the storms in this image are white because they used near infrared photography. The red color is similar to that of the Great Red Spot, but no one knows the exact reason that this change occurred or why the Great Red Spot is in fact red. There are many theories to explain the red color. One of the most prominent theories claims that the powerful winds of the storm dredges material from deep within Jupiter’s core and propels it to hight altitudes. This material, some believe to be sulfur allotropes and hydrosulfide particles, react to solar ultraviolet radiation by some unknown process. Phosphine gas is another possible candidate to explain the red coloration. Ultraviolet light could possibly catalyze phosphine’s conversion to red phosphorous. They have tried to identify the compounds more exactly through spectroscopy, but this has proven to be unsuccessful due to the large amount of chemicals that become red under ultra violet light. As for why this change occurred, several theories have been developed. Many astronomers believe that the strength of BA has increased drastically, and now has enough power to dig up the compounds from Jupiter that react with ultraviolet light. In fact, recent reading from NASA approximate Jr.’s wind-speeds to be reaching 400 miles per hour, very close to the wind-speed of the Great Spot. Astronomers have also noticed that Jr. is dragging material to higher and higher altitudes. This leads experts to believe that a global climate change is occurring. Some of the latest images provide evidence that the area near Jr. could be experiencing a change in up to ten degrees Fahrenheit. This global change started in 1939 and started slowing down in 2000 when the storms merged and BA was born. An expected result of this climate change is that the areas near the equator will become warmer and the poles will cool down. If scientists can understand what brought about this climate change on Jupiter and its overall affects to the planet, we may find a solution to Earth’s current global warming issues. The methods used to predict Jupiter storms and climate change could be applied to Earth. Amy Simon-Miller of NASA hopes that “if it is climate change, it could be periodic, as on Earth”. Any connection to Earth would be a major breakthrough in the fight against global warming.

We studied the characteristics of Jovian weather systems in class. More specifically we looked at Jupiter’s cloud layers. The “stripes” or bands of clouds on Jupiter are composed of light, white clouds and warmer, red clouds. The white clouds are actually at a higher altitude than the red clouds. We can apply this to Jr.’s transformation from a white storm to a red storm. The storm did in fact gain enough strength to stir up the lower red clouds and bring them to the higher altitudes. Spectroscopy is another topic we covered in this course. Red Spot Jr. has shown us a direct application of this science. The main method employed to determine the compounds reacting to ultraviolet light was spectroscopic reading. While these methods proved unsuccessful, more careful readings and tests could answer many questions.

Despite the unknown reason why this storm developed, it has caused great interest throughout the scientific community. This is the first time that any one has ever observed the birth of a great storm like this. The main hope for astronomers is that continued observations of the development of BA will shed light on the many mysteries of the Great Red Spot and of planetary climate change.

References:
http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/20060408000129data_trunc_sys.shtml

http://skytonight.com/news/Astro_Image_New_Red_Spot.html

http://www.physorg.com/news73060719.html

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2006/little_red_spot.html

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2006/08/01_redspotjr.shtml

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/02mar_redjr.htm

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Hubble_Takes_Sharpest_Shot_Yet_Of_New_Red_Spot_On_Jupiter.html