Planets and Moons  ID: 11204

Jupiter's Hot Spots

Released on March 14, 2013
Jupiter's bright Equatorial Zone swirls with dark patches, dubbed "hot spots" for their infrared glow. These holes in the ammonia clouds at the top of the atmosphere allow a glimpse into Jupiter's darker, hotter layers below. In 1995 NASA's Galileo spacecraft dropped a probe directly into a hot spot, taking the first and only in situ measurements of Jupiter's atmosphere. Now, movies recorded by NASA's Cassini spacecraft reveal that hot spots are not just local weather phenomena, but are in fact linked to much larger-scale atmospheric structures called Rossby waves.
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NASA postdoctoral fellow David Choi discusses his study of dark features in Jupiter's atmosphere called "hot spots," and their connection to large-scale atmospheric waves.

For complete transcript, click here.

 

Related

Jupiter Quasi-Quadrennial Oscillation
Jupiter's Hot Spots

For More Information

http://arxiv.org/abs/1302.0277

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0019103513000407

Credits

Tom Bridgman (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Lead Animator
Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC): Animator
Ernie Wright (USRA): Animator
Trent L. Schindler (USRA): Animator
Lori Perkins (NASA/GSFC): Animator
Dan Gallagher (USRA): Video Editor
David Choi (Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU)): Interviewee
Dan Gallagher (USRA): Producer
David Choi (Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU)): Scientist
Rob Andreoli (Advocates in Manpower Management, Inc.): Videographer
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and Cassini Mission Team, NASA JPL

Science Paper:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0019103513000407

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11204

Mission:
Galileo

Data Used:
Cassini/Imaging Science Subsystem also referred to as: Cassini/Jupiter imagery
Mosaic - Cassini Imagery/Central Laboratory for OPerations
Cassini/Jupiter imagery
view all stories where this data set is used
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.

This item is part of this series:
Narrated Movies

Goddard TV Tape:
G2012-099 -- Jupiter's Hot Spots

Keywords:
SVS >> Galileo
SVS >> HDTV
SVS >> Infrared
SVS >> Jupiter
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Atmosphere
SVS >> Cassini
NASA Science >> Planets and Moons
SVS >> Hot Spot
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Oceans >> Ocean Waves >> Rossby/planetary Waves

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0