Starship Asterisk*

Jupiter Diving

Explanation: Take this simulated plunge and dive into the upper atmosphere of Jupiter, the Solar System's ruling gas giant. The awesome animation is based on image data from JunoCam, and the microwave radiometer on board the Jupiter-orbiting Juno spacecraft. Your view will start about 3,000 kilometers above the southern Jovian cloud tops, and you can track your progress on the display at the left. As altitude decreases, temperature increases while you dive deeper at the location of Jupiter's famous Great Red Spot. In fact, Juno data indicates the Great Red Spot, the Solar System's largest storm system, penetrates some 300 kilometers into the giant planet's atmosphere. For comparison, the deepest point for planet Earth's oceans is just under 11 kilometers down. Don't worry though, you'll fly back out again.

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There is, if you ask me, too much of a good thing, or, in this case, too close of a closeup.

At least for me, a poor amateur who likes Jupiter but is not a true Solar system aficionada.

Let me offer this piece from the APOD as evidence for your consideration:


That, ladies and gents, appears to be what Jupiter looks like the moment before Juno dives into the Great Red Spot. If Juno ever did take such a plunge, that is. Can't remember.

As you can see, this particular part of Jupiter appears to be blue. That's actually not as crazy as it sounds, because there are little parts of the Jupiter cloudtops that are blue or bluish gray. These places are, I believe, actual breaks in the cloud cover, so that we see, well, "blue sky" below. Consider the pictures of Jupiter below and note little patches of grayish blue:


The bluest parts of Jupiter are the bluish festoons, which are seen emerging from the north equatorial belt and protruding into the white equatorial zone. I don't remember seeing a lot of blue near the Great Red Spot, however. Consider these tips on how to draw Jupiter:


So what are we seeing in today's video? Yes, I know what we are seeing. I'm just having trouble to "see" what we are seeing.


P.S: What's this?


Oh, that's a cropped and heavily blown-up still from the movie Minority Report (at 0.55). Couldn't you see that?


Ann

Haha I agree it might be a little too close up. I used to do Jupiter sketching when I had access to an 8" refractor, always in black and white though, never attempted color. Sketching really adds to the observing experience, I think. Remember that blue storm that blew up briefly on Saturn? I think that was more than 10 years ago. I wonder how long it will be until the next one.

Off topic but on topic, there was a bolide over Portugal and western Spain about 18 hours ago, Saturday evening their time, many videos were taken, very nice blue/green color.

Too close of a closeup? Copyright said 2017 - I am sorry I have not seen this in the 28 years since then! My (slight) objection is the temperature scale is in Kelvins. Had to pick off max T at 525 K, subtract 273 gives 252 C, convert to 485 F to get a temperature I can relate to.

Roy wrote: ↑Sun May 19, 2024 2:40 pm Copyright said 2017 - I am sorry I have not seen this in the 28 years since then!

???

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Sun May 19, 2024 2:50 pm

Roy wrote: ↑Sun May 19, 2024 2:40 pm Copyright said 2017 - I am sorry I have not seen this in the 28 years since then!

???

Yeah - meant to say 8 years. Probably age-related error. Hate it when that happens.

Nice, but I want my gargantuan tentacled buoyant Jovian alien gas bag "jellyfish"!

Ann wrote: ↑Sun May 19, 2024 6:40 am [...]
The bluest parts of Jupiter are the bluish festoons, which are seen emerging from the north equatorial belt and protruding into the white equatorial zone. I don't remember seeing a lot of blue near the Great Red Spot, however. Consider these tips on how to draw Jupiter:

Sketch of Jupiter by Paul Abel.

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Sketch of Jupiter from Pixy.org

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[...]

Ann

Well. I think it's also exciting to look beneath Jupiter's surface in IR.
The spatial 3D effect is unmistakable.

Original pictures: left: Cassini 2020 NASA, ESA
Original picture: right: Judy Schmidt WEBB NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

You just have to be careful that you don't get torn between the current and the countercurrent,-)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... educed.gif

Roy wrote: ↑Sun May 19, 2024 4:27 pm

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Sun May 19, 2024 2:50 pm

Roy wrote: ↑Sun May 19, 2024 2:40 pm Copyright said 2017 - I am sorry I have not seen this in the 28 years since then!

???

Yeah - meant to say 8 years. Probably age-related error. Hate it when that happens.

Oh well... I was hoping you had access to some kind of time machine.

I just re-read Clarke's 1971 short story A Meeting with Medusa about a dirigible pilot who ventures down into the upper levels of Jupiter's atmosphere (and discovers life there). Kind of like the APOD, but in slow motion.

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Sun May 19, 2024 10:13 pm I just re-read Clarke's 1971 short story A Meeting with Medusa about a dirigible pilot who ventures down into the upper levels of Jupiter's atmosphere (and discovers life there). Kind of like the APOD, but in slow motion.

Nice. I'll have to go read it myself. For the first time!