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Mystery Spot on Jupiter Baffles Astronomers
seanmeister writes "From Space.com: "Astronomers have spotted a strange, obvious and inexplicable black spot near the equator of Jupiter. A picture of the object is circling this planet electronically as researchers scratch their heads about what they've found. A second image, taken on another day by a different photographer, contains a similar looking spot. As of early today, the second image had deepened the mystery. Some astronomers were at first puzzled over whether the two photos show the same thing or not. As it turns out, they do not." I, for one, welcome our new monolith overlords!"
Wow! This is amazing.
... wait ... it appears that on closer inspection by NASA officials, the spot is merely a smudge on the surface of earth's atmosphere. They are currently sending out astronauts from the space station to wipe off what appears to be a giant extra-galactic space bug, which mistakenly thought that the earth was a some sort of space-tree, smashing into the newly-enabled earth energy barrier, in order to counter the effects of the current magnetic storm occuring in our solar system. NASA has advised citizens to stay calm, as the mess will be cleaned up shortly, restoring the viewing clarity. It appears to be some sort of crazy coincidence that the spot moves along with Jupiter. NASA estimates that this situation will be repaired before the 28th, but complications unfolding the microgravity chammie may arise.
Oh
Some conspiracy theorists believe that this may be a space ship, but this was quickly dismissed by chief NASA officials, saying that everybody knows that the space ships that are that size are orbiting Saturn.
-- Joey Joe Joe Jimbobalu
NASA PR Department
Monoliths. Lots of monoliths.
I can't wait for Lucifer!
The link to the actual article.
This space intentionally left blank.
and emcompassed Space.com.
God. Damn. It.
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
You mean you go all the way to Jupiter and pay $11 to tour a run-down shack with tilted tables and floors?
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
[looking at a piece of paper with a black circle on it]
Billy Bones: The Black Spot! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
</reference>
Oh, wrong black spot. Right, the 2010 black spot. So, when do we get our second sun? I don't feel like sleeping anymore.
So that's what happens when you plunge a plutonium-powered space probe into a gas giant...
10. Roy Scheider says it is hatching black slabs again.
9. Then they realized that the dark area was really that dratted corner-logo for the Sci Fi channel in the corner of the screen.
8. Zug Island: A New Beginning
7. Rush Limbaugh is passing in front of the planet.
6. Damn it, Galactus! Why did you spill your coffee again?
5. It's just the new Mystery Spot. The Wal-Drug and the Tommy Bartlett Robot World are on the other side of the planet (as if you did not know already from the billboards plastering Mars and Venus).
4. It started with a blown transformer in Cleveland, I think
3. Those sneaky bastards: New Jersey put a colony on Jupiter already!
2. "Dubya and the corporate military industrial complex are to blame"
1. Jenkins! Did you sneeze on the telescope mirror last night and forget to tell anyone?
0. "I, for one, welcome our new Jovian albedo-reducing overlords."
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
It's a space pimple.
They go away after a while if you don't pick at them.
"Oh my god, it's full of money!" $_$
Well, clearly, it's ET, isn't it? Those spots are his eyes. Every time he blinks, the spots vanish.
..er...music out there. Let's hope ET has his cell phone with him - with all this attention, things could get out of hand...
Who knows, he and Drew Barrymore may be making sweet
I'm an expert in this particular field - all you have to do is check to see if there is a similar spot on the other side...Your rule of thumb is 'symmetry = good. asymmetry = spend the night worrying and reconciling with all those who youve wronged until you can get a doctor to look at it and conclude that it's just a particularly old and ornery Milk Dud.'
Does anybody wonder if this has anything to do with NASA ditching Gallilieo with its radioactive engine and all straight into Jupiter? Just a thought...
"Hey baby, mind if I plunge my plutionium-powered space probe into your gas giant?"
It's full of corny SF references.
And I don't mean my list of recent comments.
Never go to IO. It is a busy place. Too much coming and going there.
I'm thinking that it is just the final touches to the Jupiter Death Star project.
We're like soooo doomed.
Ralf
The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.
-Bertrand Russel
Like being dominated do you? ;)
It is a spiritual enemy that will only be defeated if we come against them in the name of Jesus and pray for this nation and for our leaders.
It is a demonic presence ... that God revealed to me as the enemy.
We should invade immediately
--Phillip
Can you say BIRTH TAX
I was googling for info and came across a page from JPL. The date is 1998 and the photo from Galileo.
An excerpt:
"A recently discovered black spot in Jupiter's clouds is darker than any featue ever before observed on the giant planet. The spot may be theresult of a downward spiraling wind that blows away high clouds and revealsdeeper, very dark cloud layers." Here's the link:
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA01496
Maybe this is like a Sun spot, but for Juipter. I'm not sure, but I think Sun spots have something to do with the magnetic field of our star acting up, so maybe this is a side effect of Jupiter's magnetic field doing wierd things. I also read somewhere long ago that if Jupiter would have got 10 times bigger, nuclear fusion would have started, and we'd be a binary system. Maybe Jupiter's firing up thanks to Galileo. Probably not, but maybe. Stranger things have happened... wait... no they haven't. Oh well.
Request: ECM unit, 1000 km fullerene cable, 1 tactical nuclear weapon. Reason: Birthday party for foreign dignitary.
It's pretty cool that astronomy is pretty much the only field where amateur work is not only accepted but also encouraged. if it wasn't for the thousands of people gazing up at the stars with their home telescopes, most of this stuff would get missed.
it's pretty cool some of the things you can capture with a nice 4.5" scope and a modified webcam.
or did anybody else notice that Jupiter's north pole is pointing down in these photos. Oh, yeah, and look at this page for some photos of dark spots caused by comet Shoemaker-Levi 9.
"I'm so moist I'm sticking to the leather." -Kermit the Frog on The Late Late Show
(2) That's where Osama and Saddam are hiding.
Don't let Ozzie Smith hear about this, he will end up missing Burn's game visiting it!
i love that movie.
another a.c.clarke's prophecy?
communication satelites, orbital lift, jupiter's moon europe life, jupiter monolith, what's next? moon magnetic anomaly?
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. (Arthur C. Clarke)
We were having a great time wearing tinfoil helmets and speculating about hostile alien superintelligences, and you go and be the party pooper with the facts!
Stick Men
"The black spot, accompanied by at least one plume, can be seen not far away from the Great Red Spot"
Since the Gread Red Spot is twice the size of earth and I quickly estimate you could fit about two of the Red Spots between it and the black oddity, the distance between them is roughly four times the diameter of Earth. That's something like 50000 kilometers.
Not far, indeed...
Which scientific theory predicts monoliths around Jupiter? :-)
Stick Men
SL9 was pretty bright and very noticable on the discovery films. Even though it was broken up in to small pieces, they tended to make big spots.
If this is a result of a impactor, given the smallness and light color of the spot, the impactor would have likely been small, very faint and would have likely gone unnoticed.
Especially since the current crop of astroid/comet hunting teams use automated imagers that focus on areas likely to find near Earth orbiters and stay away from areas around Jupiter since Jupiter is so bright.
Good, that'll help. Maybe the Slashdot editors could join it. By now I'm ready to welcome any overlord that can proofread.
Optimus Prime, you have been a naughty robot.
That's "Mr. Soulless Automaton" to you, Bub.
That planet has been circling there for billions of years. Nasa sends one probe to it and they break it. It's not as if we've planets to waste. Please handle them with care.
Moderators, just because you don't understand a metaphore or reference, doesn't mean it's not funny. And funny is *NOT* off-topic.
We could certainly use a lot less of the "I don't understand it so it must be off-topic" moderations.
"Eve of Destruction", it's not just for old hippies anymore...
What about monoliths turning the whole thing into a sun?
It is already there. Item #10. I guess it should have been numbered Item #2010 to make it more obvious.
ya. ok it's a bad 2001 shot.
--- Just say no to negativity.
... and pink hearts, yellow moons, green clovers and blue diamonds!
:-9 )
(mmmm... Lucky Charms
The Great Red Spot simply had an inter-racial baby. Now, stop teasing the poor little thing.
Table-ized A.I.