Unlike Leopards, Jupiter Finds a Way to Change Its Spots

[cecilia]

news (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/27/science/space/27JUPI.html) about Jupiter's storms and how they will change.
I love this comment:

" Even with all the changes, Jupiter will still be recognizable at first glance.

"It's still going to look like a round striped planet," Dr. Marcus said. " :lol:

[Karlos]

I'd be dismayed if anybody managed to confuse the colossal ginger white moggy looking planet for any other :lol:

[blobrana]

Hum,
>>"Jupiter will still be recognisable at first glance"

i suppose once you`ve seen one gas giant, (and fuel scooped them) you`ve seen them all...(Well, that`s how it seemed in frontier elite).


[Hum, a 70 year climatic cycle... using M = a3 / P2

where:
M is the mass of the primary body, in units of the solar mass.
a is the length of the semi-major axis of the elliptical orbit in units of the mean Earth-Sun distance, 1 A.U. (astronomical unit). (BTW If the orbit is circular the semi-major axis = radius of the orbit.)
P is the period if the orbit in Earth years.

i work the length of the year to be : 11.86 Earth years
(the solar cycle happens to be about 11 years as well)
But there doesn`t seem to be a straightforward `solar` influence there...(ie 6 x 12 =72?)
Perhaps we are seeing the fluid dynamics of Jupiter's atmospheres and some sort of `chaos theory`...that has a `resonance` or `attractor` around 70 earth years...

[that_punk_guy]

What avatar? ;-)

[QuikSanz]

@blobrana,

Nice work. all your space posts are well informed. Astronomy major? Makes me want to move out of the city and pick up a nice Meade 10" Scope. I want to be in your fan club!

Chris

[cecilia]

that_punk_guy wrote:
What avatar? ;-)hey, TPG, i can see your SPOT! :lol: