James Webb has detected unknown structures and bright spots in Jupiter’s Great Red Spot
New facilities and activities in atmosphere of Jupiter were detected by the James Webb telescope, in particular on Great Red SpotThe observed features appear to be caused by something called “atmospheric gravitational waves.”
The Great Red Spot, easily observable with medium-sized home telescopes, is the largest storm in the Solar System. It has been active for at least 300 years and has already been studied several times, but it still holds surprises for astronomers.
“We thought, perhaps naively, that this region would be really boring,” said Henrik Melin, a team leader from the University of Leicester, who published the new study in the journal Nature Astronomy. “But it’s actually as fascinating as the auroras, if not more so. Jupiter continues to surprise us,” he said.
The Webb data revealed that the upper atmosphere in the Greater Spot area contains a variety of complex structures, such as dark arcs and bright spots, throughout the field of view. Scientists believe something other than sunlight is affecting these layers of Jupiter.
The team’s proposal is that these structures are altered by atmospheric gravitational waves (not to be confused with gravitational waves produced by cosmic events). They also occur on Earth, but with much lower intensity than those on Jupiter.
“These waves are generated in the lower, turbulent layers of the atmosphere, near the Great Red Spot, and can propagate to higher altitudes, altering the structure and emissions of the upper atmosphere,” Melin explained.
The authors plan new observations with Webb to discover how these waves move in Jupiter’s upper atmosphere. Additionally, they hope to better understand where storm energy in the Great Red Spot comes from and goes.
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Source: Terra
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