Three Red Spots Mix it Up on Jupiter

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE 818-354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

Whitney Clavin 818-354-4673
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
whitney.clavin@jpl.nasa.gov

Ray Villard 410-338-4514
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
villard@stsci.edu

Amy Simon-Miller 301-286-6738
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
amy.simon@nasa.gov

IMAGE ADVISORY: 2008-136 July 17, 2008

Three Red Spots Mix it Up on Jupiter

A new sequence of Hubble Space Telescope images offers an unprecedented view of a
planetary game of Pac-Man among three red spots clustered together in Jupiter's
atmosphere. The images were taken by the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, developed and
built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

The time series shows the passage of the "Red Spot Jr." in a band of clouds below (south) of the
Great Red Spot. "Red Spot Jr." first appeared on Jupiter in early 2006 when a
previously white storm turned red. This is the second time, since turning red, it has skirted
past its big brother apparently unscathed.

But this is not the fate of "baby red spot," which is in the same latitudinal band as the Great Red
Spot. This new red spot first appeared earlier this year. The baby red spot gets ever closer to the
Great Red Spot in this picture sequence until it is caught up in its anticyclonic spin. In the
final image, the baby spot is deformed and pale in color and has been spun to the right (east) of
the Great Red Spot. Amateur astronomers' observations confirm that this pale spot is the
migrating baby spot.

The prediction is that the baby spot will now get pulled back into the Great Red Spot
"Cuisinart" and disappear for good. This is one possible mechanism that has powered and
sustained the Great Red Spot for at least 150 years.

These three natural-color Jupiter images were made from data acquired on May 15, June
28 and July 8, 2008, by JPL's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2. Each one covers 58
degrees of Jovian "latitude" and 70 degrees of "longitude" (centered on 5 degrees South latitude
and 110, 121 and 121 degrees West longitude, respectively).

For images and more information, visit http://hubblesite.org/news/2008/27 .

For more information about JPL's Wide Field and Planetary Cameras, visit
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/missiondetails.cfm?mission=WFPC .

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and
the European Space Agency (ESA) and is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight
Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, Md. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) conducts
Hubble science operations. The institute is operated for NASA by the Association of
Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., Washington, D.C.

-end-

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=kjJVL8PVInIUKgJ&s=ggJUJVOxFcLGLUNDJqH&m=ivLRK7MWLlJ5G