The newest red spot is on the far left (west), along the same band of clouds as the Great Red Spot and is drifting toward it.
If the motion continues, the new spot will encounter the much larger storm system in August. Jupiter's recent outbreak of red spots is likely related to large scale climate change as the gas giant planet is getting warmer near the equator.
SPACE.COM: Both of Saturn's poles have surprising swirling hotspots that persist even through years of polar winter, a new study reveals. The hotspots are localized areas in Saturn's gaseous atmosphere over its poles that are considerably warmer than the surrounding air — they're actually about as warm as the atmosphere at Saturn's equator, said Leigh Fletcher of the University of Oxford.
The hotspot over the southern hemisphere was imaged by the Keck Observatories prior to arrival of the Cassini spacecraft, but the northern hemisphere has faced away from Earth for over a decade, so its hotspot was revealed only this year by Cassini.
Scientists had thought that solar irradiation might be generating the hotspot in the southern hemisphere (currently in its summer phase, facing the sun), but the existence of a similar hotspot in the northern hemisphere, which has been plunged in wintry darkness for many years, suggests that isn't the case.
Instead, dynamic processes in Saturn's atmosphere may create the hotspots, the new findings, detailed in the Jan. 4 issue of the journal Science, suggest, Fletcher says.
- COULD HOT STORMS ON JUPITER AND SATURN BE CAUSED BY MAN-MADE CO2?
- NOT POSSIBLE.
- MAYBE WHAT'S CAUSING IT ON THOSE TWO PLANETS IS WHAT CAUSED IT HERE, TOO?
- I SAY "CAUSED" - PAST TENSE - BECAUSE THE EARTH HASN'T WARMED SINCE 2001.
BOTTOM-LINE: AGW = BS.
Hey, don't forget MARS!
ReplyDeleteOBVIOUSLY OUR MARS MISSIONS HAVE DISRUPTED AN DESTROYED THE ECOLOGY ON MARS.
ReplyDeleteTHEY HAVE POLAR CAPS - BUT NO POLAR BEARS!
OK...so how then do you explain Neptune?
ReplyDeleteWhat common factor couldpossibly apply to ALL the Planets of our SOLAR system--a factor which has been causing them to all to warm up in the same timeframe?
Now I know for a fact that Al Gore has not had any speaking engagements on any of these other planets, so you can't pin this on him...