Physics
Scientific paper
Jul 2007
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007hst..prop11498s&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #11498. Cycle 16
Physics
Scientific paper
Jupiter's largest anticyclonic storm, the Great Red Spot GRS, drifts slowly westward relative to the radio rotation rate of the planet System III W. longitude. In contrast, the next largest storm, Oval BA a.k.a. the Little Red Spot or LRS, drifts slowly eastward. The relative drift of the two is approximately 0.5 deg/day, resulting in a passage of the storms every two years. The GRS sits at ~22 deg. S planetographic latitude, while the LRS resides at ~33 deg. S latitude. Both vortices deflect nearby eastward and westward winds jets around their periphery, and are somewhat confined to their latitude bands by the alternating, and nearly constant, zonal wind field. However, they do oscillate slightly in latitude, particularly near the times of a passage, in part because the deflected wind jets push to keep the spots separated. It is during these passages that the LRS, and its predecessor white ovals, is most likely to show changes in size and morphology, which are related to the internal wind fields and regulate the vertical cloud structure of the vortex. For example, GRS passages in 1998 and 2000 preceded the merger of the three white ovals into the single large Oval BA, after the ovals and intervening cyclonic cells were deflected by the GRS. We propose to study the 2008 passage to look for changes in internal vortex winds, nearby zonal winds and vortex upper cloud structure, particularly in particle size and opacity, using five orbits of WFPC2 and two orbits of NICMOS. These data will be combined with a multitude of planned ground-based coverage to offer an unprecedented view of a GRS/Oval passage, which will give insight on cloud structure, dynamics, and possibly even water abundance below the cloud decks water abundance governs the distance of interaction between the two spots. HST is required to provide adequate spatial resolution and wavelength coverage while observing the passage. The 2008 passage is expected to be especially important, as Jupiter underwent a global upheaval in 2007, with disturbances near the GRS and LRS. This upheaval began after the normal Cycle 16 proposal deadline, raising the priority of these observations enough to warrant a request for HST time.;
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