Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Sep 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006dps....38.1101s&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #38, #11.01; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 38, p.495
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Over the past several years, the Jovian White Ovals of the Southern Temperate Belt have undergone significant changes. Three large vortices which emerged in the 1940's, BC, DE, and FA, gradually converged in latitude until BC and DE merged in 1998 to form the vortex BE. In 2000, BE and FA merged to form BA. In 2005, amateur astronomers began reporting a steady reddening of oval BA, becoming comparable in color to the Great Red Spot (GRS) in early 2006 (Naeye, R., 2006, Sky and Telescope, 111, No. 6, 18).
The recent reddening of the oval BA marks an unprecedented event in the history of Jovian vortices. For the first time we see the long-term evolution of a large vortex whose color now qualitatively appears similar to the GRS. Some hypotheses advanced for this newly observed phenomenon postulate a change in the internal dynamics of the vortex, often involving a deeper convective base and increased peak wind speeds of the oval (e.g. Simon-Miller, A., et al., 2006, Icarus, submitted).
To investigate dynamical changes associated with the oval interactions, we utilized images of oval BA from both pre-reddened (but post-merger) late 2000 Cassini ISS/NAC flyby imagery and post-reddened 2006 Hubble Space Telescope ACS/HRC images. Quantitative statistical analyses of the wind profile and vorticity are used to test the hypothesis that we are witnessing not merely a change in magnitude of wind speeds, but a transition of BA across geostrophic regimes (Williams, G.P., Yamagata, T., 1984, J. Atmos. Sci., 41, 453-478). Additionally, simulations of the oval BA were performed using the EPIC General Circulation Model (Dowling, T.E., et al., 1998, Icarus 132: 221-238) in an effort to study non-observational variables underlying the recent color change.
This work was supported by NASA through award number NNG05GB45G.
Chanover Nancy Janet
Morales-Juberias Raúl
Simon-Miller Amy A.
Sussman Michael
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