Starship Asterisk*

StarCuriousAero wrote:I find it a little close-minded to immediately dismiss the possibilty of a volcano-analogous process to be occurring on the "surface" of a planet to which we've never been. I'm not refuting "evidence" against it or links to other possible causes, but the nature of the scientific process should not allow for such dismissal. We all know correlation is not causation, and speculation should be regarded as such, while maintaining due respect. We simply don't know for sure until we get down there. Hypotheses don't deserve to be greeted with a "No" followed by a wikipedia quote. Normally though, Chris, I tend to find your posts add something significant to the discussion, but in this case I thought it was a bit rude. If you wish to quote wikipedia, do so with a disclaimer and don't represent it as fact, or instead go to the references listed below on the wiki article for a more credible source.

biddie67 wrote:Just as Earth has enormous pressures in its core and has volcanoes to relieve those pressures, couldn't Jupiter, even though it's a gas planet, have such pressures in its core that there could be analogous pressure relief features like the Great Red Spot that doesn't stay in one place like volcanoes on Earth but that moves in response to Saturn's rotation or other gravitational influences?

atalas wrote:Isn't that just incredible detail !

Carla Levon wrote:I thought I was watching one of Van Gogh´s piece!

Ailean4321 wrote:Jupiter is absolutely my favorite of the planets in our solar system. It is absolutely beautiful, and this picture shows a close up of that beauty. <3
I would much rather claim Jupiter as my home planet than Earth.
-Ailean

APOD Robot wrote:Voyager 1 is currently the most distant human made object in the universe and expected to leave the entire solar heliosheath any time now.

B wrote:The great red spot of Jupiter is likely a vast volcanic vent spewing sulfur - oxygen compounds into the upper atmosphere while atmospheric turbulence must cause the red spot to assume an oval shape. There are probably other volcanic vents similar to great red spot.

Wikipedia article on the Atmosphere of Jupiter wrote:The Great Red Spot's latitude has been stable for the duration of good observational records, typically varying by about a degree. Its longitude, however, is subject to constant variation. Because Jupiter does not rotate uniformly at all latitudes, astronomers have defined three different systems for defining the longitude. System II is used for latitudes of more than 10°, and was originally based on the average rotation rate of the Great Red Spot of 9h 55m 42s. Despite this, the spot has "lapped" the planet in System II at least 10 times since the early 19th century. Its drift rate has changed dramatically over the years and has been linked to the brightness of the South Equatorial Belt, and the presence or absence of a South Tropical Disturbance.