Slashdot Mirror
Jupiter's Third Red Spot
Jupiter's Great Red Spot, the solar system's largest (and longest-lived) storm, was joined by another in 2006, dubbed Red Spot Junior. Now a third red spot near the first two has been photographed by the Hubble space telescope. This is a storm about half the size of Earth. Here's a photo of the new storm (it's the one on the left). From New Scientist: "No one knows for sure what gives the three spots their red color. But one theory is that especially violent storms dredge up material from deeper in Jupiter's atmosphere, such as phosphorus-containing molecules, which undergo chemical reactions that turn them red when exposed to sunlight."
Jupiter really has to start wearing protection when it goes all retrograde with Venus.
What would be really, really cool is if we ever send a probe that could figure out the core of these massive gas giants. Solid iron? Molten nickel? Some weird mix of whoknowswhat?
It's true that there's not much on Jupiter besides atmosphere, but it's still weird to see what amounts to just a huge cyclone lasting for centuries -- or more -- I suppose we don't have any good idea when the Gred Red Spot first appeared.
Presumably Earth's atmosphere is just too thin to support weather systems of that longevity, although it's hard to think of a good scaling argument for why the size, thickness, mass et cetera of the atmosphere should dictate the scale of the duration of events in it.
But I wonder if there are parallels in ocean events, here? We have the El Nino/Nina business, the Atlantic Oscillation, and these things at least have periods near decades. Perhaps some of what we consider "permanent" features of the oceans, like the Gulf Stream, are merely "storms" like Jupiter's Red Spot that last several centuries.
Look at how global warming is affecting even outer space. You SUV drivers should be ashamed.
The increased storm activity on Jupiter is a result of Anthropogenic Global Warming. I blame George Bush.
The OP succinctly and humorously made several valid points:
1) Global warming is occurring everywhere in the solar system due to increased solar activity.
2) This fact is completely unknown to most everybody who "believes" (as you put it) that global warming is a crisis.
3) The fact of extraterrestrial warming is glossed over entirely by scientists and media presenting information to the public because it would "damage the cause".
Your "unbiased" "scientific" mindset causes you to be ready to jump down the throats of anyone who voices a contrary opinion. It apparently has deleterious effects on the sense of humor as well.
You know you've become too partisan about an issue when you don't allow anyone to poke any fun at it.
Besides, if you somehow made the joke in the opposite direction, and put it on late-night TV along with similar jokes, it'd be called the Colbert Report and thousands of people would cheer you on and practically think you're the Second Coming.
The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
Which is actually know anything.
2) This fact is completely unknown to most everybody who "believes" (as you put it) that global warming is a crisis.
No, it's known by a great many. It's already been studied, and accounted for, by climatologists. It's discussed frequently with regards to global warming, because increasing solar output combined with increased greenhouse gases makes the problem even worse.
Your "unbiased" "scientific" mindset causes you to be ready to jump down the throats of anyone who voices a contrary opinion.
Why yes we're ready to jump down the throats of peoples whose opinions are conceived in abject ignorance, but who insist on presenting their uneducated ignorant opinions as though it is not only equal to, but superior, to the opinions of those who have done actual science in the field. These are not the same type of opinion. Stop pretending that having this explained to you is somehow a form of censorship or a sign of just how unreasonable everyone else is.
The enemies of Democracy are