MYSTERIOUS glowing spots have been discovered above a raging storm on Jupiter, and scientists are trying to figure out just what they are.
Jupiter’s Great Red Spot has been a point of interest since it was observed by the James Webb Space Telescope in 2022.
The telescope, a joint venture between Nasa and space agencies in Canada and Europe, can capture planetary structures with unprecedented accuracy.
Scientists set their sights on the Great Red Spot for a reason. It is the largest storm in the solar system – over 10,000 miles wide – and has been raging for centuries.
Even then, they were shocked to uncover a previously unknown structure above the blustering storm.
“We thought this region, perhaps naively, would be really boring,” team leader Henrik Melin said in a press release.
“It is in fact just as interesting as the northern lights, if not more so. Jupiter never ceases to surprise.”
Jupiter is not only the largest planet in the solar system but one of the brightest objects in the night sky.
It sports brilliant lights at its northern and southern polar regions. Other than that, the glow from the upper atmosphere is weak, making it difficult for telescopes to pick out fine details.
This is where Webb comes in. The telescope is equipped with an instrument called the Near InfraRed Spectrograph that picks up on wavelengths far outside the range of human sight.
This special tool allows scientists to study the Great Red Spot with never-before-seen precision.
Beyond the vibrant polar lights, much of the planet’s upper atmosphere is influenced by incoming sunlight closer to the equator.
Jupiter receives only 4% of the sunlight received on Earth, so astronomers anticipated this region to be rather homogeneous.
The team sought to investigate if this region was as dull as it seemed, and zeroed in on the Great Red Spot.
They were surprised to find “a variety of intricate structures,” including dark curves and bright spots, across the entire field of view.
The observations spurred on a new conclusion: another mechanism could be altering the shape of the upper atmosphere.
“One way in which you can change this structure is by gravity waves – similar to waves crashing on a beach, creating ripples in the sand,” Melin explained.
“These waves are generated deep in the turbulent lower atmosphere, all around the Great Red Spot, and they can travel up in altitude, changing the structure and emissions of the upper atmosphere.”
The team hopes to conduct follow-up observations of these intricate wave patterns to investigate how they move within the planet’s upper atmosphere.
They strive to better understand the region’s energy budget and how the features change over time.
The latest findings may also support ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, Juice, which blasted off last April.
What is the James Webb Space Telescope?
The James Webb Space Telescope has been billed as the “premier observatory of the next decade.”
The James Webb Space Telescope, nicknamed JWST or Webb, is a large infrared telescope with a primary mirror stretching approximately 6.5 meters.
The telescope launched from the European Space Agency’s spaceport in French Guiana on December 25, 2021 .
Webb serves thousands of astronomers across the globe.
It seeks to collect information about every phase in the history of the universe, including the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth.
Webb was formerly known as the “Next Generation Space Telescope” but was renamed in honor of former NASA administrator James Webb.
It is an international collaboration between Nasa, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
The telescope features several innovative technologies including a primary mirror made of 18 ultra-light segments that unfold after launch.
Webb’s largest feature is a tennis court-sized sunshield that reduces the heat from the Sun more than a million times.
The telescope’s four cameras and spectrometers boast detectors that are able to record event the faintest signals.
Juice will make detailed observations of Jupiter and its moons Ganymede, Callisto and Europa, all of which bear large oceans.
A team of researchers recently identified Europa as one of the “ocean worlds” that could possibly support life around its deep-sea thermal vents.
The forthcoming mission will look at all three moons as both planetary objects and possible habitats.
It will delve into Jupiter’s complex environment and use it as a model for gas giants across the universe.
Dr. Thomas Hughes is a UK-based scientist and science communicator who makes complex topics accessible to readers. His articles explore breakthroughs in various scientific disciplines, from space exploration to cutting-edge research.
