Changing Characteristics of Jupiter's Little Red Spot

doi:10.1088/0004-6256/135/6/2446

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A. F. Cheng et al. 2008 The Astronomical Journal 135 2446 doi:10.1088/0004-6256/135/6/2446

CHANGING CHARACTERISTICS OF JUPITER'S LITTLE RED SPOT

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A. F. Cheng^1,9, A. A. Simon-Miller², H. A. Weaver¹, K. H. Baines³, G. S. Orton³, P. A. Yanamandra-Fisher³, O. Mousis⁴, E. Pantin⁵, L. Vanzi⁶, L. N. Fletcher⁷, J. R. Spencer⁸, S. A. Stern⁹, J. T. Clarke¹⁰, M. J. Mutchler¹¹ and K. S. Noll¹¹

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andrew.cheng@jhuapl.edu Hal.Weaver@jhuapl.edu Amy.Simon@nasa.gov kbaines@mail.jpl.nasa.gov go@scn.jpl.nasa.gov padma@scn.jpl.nasa.gov olivier.mousis@obs-besancon.fr epantin@cea.fr lvanzi@eso.org fletcher@atm.ox.ac.uk spencer@boulder.swri.edu alan.stern@nasa.gov

¹ Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Rd., Laurel, MD 20723, USA
² NASA/GSFC, Code 693, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
³ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
⁴ Institut UTINAM, CNRS-UMR 6213, Université de Franche-Comté, France
⁵ Centre d'Etudes Atomique CEA/SAp, Saclay, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
⁶ European Southern Observatory, Alonso de Cordova 3107, Vitacura, Santiago, Chile
⁷ Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, Department of Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PU, UK
⁸ Southwest Research Institute, 1050 Walnut St., Boulder, CO 80302, USA
⁹ NASA Headquarters, 300 E St. SW, Washington, DC 20546, USA
¹⁰ Department of Astronomy and Center for Space Physics, Boston University, 725 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA
¹¹ Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Dr., Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA

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Abstract References Cited By

The Little Red Spot (LRS) in Jupiter's atmosphere was investigated in unprecedented detail by the New Horizons spacecraft together with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the Very Large Telescope (VLT). The LRS and the larger Great Red Spot (GRS) of Jupiter are the largest known atmospheric storms in the solar system. Originally a white oval, the LRS formed from the mergers of three smaller storms in 1998 and 2000, and became as red as the GRS between 2005 and 2006. Here we show that circulation and wind speeds in the LRS have increased substantially since the Voyager and Galileo eras when the oval was white. The maximum tangential velocity of the LRS is now 172 ± 18 m s^–1, close to the highest values ever seen in the GRS, which has also evolved both in size and maximum wind speed. The cloud-top altitudes of the GRS and LRS are similar, both storms extending much higher in the atmosphere than other Jovian anti-cyclonic systems. The similarities in wind speeds, cloud morphology, and coloring suggest a common dynamical mechanism explaining the reddening of the two largest anticyclonic systems on Jupiter. These storms will not be observed again from close range until at least 2016.

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