Recent Submissions: 2011 September 1-4

[Ann]

Mario Weigand, I'm so impressed with your Jupiter images! Tell me, in the wide-angle one, is it true that Ganymede is at far upper left? It looks bigger to me than the other moons, and it looks "striped" or "grooved", too. And is Io moderately close to Jupiter at left? It looks yellower to me than the other moons. And is Callisto at lower right of Jupiter? It looks sort of grayish and "dark", with a bit of white in it. And is that Europa at far lower right? It looks so white.

A splendid image! And the closeup of Jupiter is so beautiful, too. Tell me, what is that egg-shaped spot at Jupiter's lower right, which seems to be "outlined" with a fine dark line? Surely it can't be the Great Red Spot. The Great Red Spot should be inside the Southern Equatorial Band or whatever it is called, right? And it should also be redder, or at least a bit more orange, in color. Nevertheless, your spot is an interesting one!

Ann

[marioweigand]

Hi Ann,

thanks for your feedback!

Yes, the first moon is Ganymede, then Io, (J), Callisto and Europa.
Well, I did not normalize the moons in brightness.
However, Europa has indeed the highest albedo of the four moons.
(Europa = 0.67, I = 0.63, G = 0.43, C = 0.22)

The egg-shaped spot is White Oval BA, which has a long history.
In the end of the 90ies, three smaller white ovals merged to form WO BA.
Those three ovals were observed since 1939!
So, the GRS is not the only long-lasting feature in Jupiter's atmosphere.

cheers

Mario

[Ann]

Thanks, Mario! That's interesting to know. Both the moons and the spot!

Ann