Jupiter has lost the Southern Equatorial Band (SEB)

[rodsky]

---

As seen early on since late 2009, Jupiter's Southern Equatorial Band or SEB has been slowly fading, and now is almost completely gone. Here are two photos from Christopher Go's (Cebu-based amateur astronomer) website:

September 28, 2008

September 28, 2008: In this photo, you can see the Great Red Spot (GRS) sitting in it's usual place--nested against the SEB.


May 8, 2010

May 8, 2010: In one of Chris' recent images, the GRS is now sitting in a vast pale sea, lonely without the SEB.

Article here:
Jupiter Loses Stripe, Still Retains Rank as 5th From the Sun | KSEE 24 News - Central Valley's News Station: Fresno-Visalia - News, Sports, Weather | Local News

-RODION

[r3roble]

gisuyop sa GRS.. he he..

[rodsky]

gisuyop sa GRS.. he he..

Interesting theory. Though the GRS doesn't interact directly with SEB as seen from surface level, basin sa ilalom. Intriguing.

-RODION

[lomotel]

what constitute the SEB? if it's just a cloud of gas that forms a band then it should reappear in the future.

well there goes my layman's prediction =)

[benj04]

like what bro lomotel says, if the seb is constituted of a cloud of gas,
maybe ni scatter lng ang seb bro..
similar to clouds on earth na ni clear-out lng sa sky..
Only difference is, ang pag scatter sa cloud of gas sa jupiter takes a long period of time.

[rodsky]

@lomotel and benj

Good points. Question is when. Remember, features like the GRS are hundreds of years old...so we don't know if it will reappear (if it does reappear) next week or next century pa.

-RODION

[Peenut]

GRS on SEB?...hmmmm

[rodsky]

GRS on SEB?...hmmmm

Yes. Anything wrong? Perhaps you think that's the North Equatorial Band (NEB) that the GRS is sitting on, but actually it's not--you see, astronomers usually publish their photos upside-down (i.e. North is at the bottom of the image), because this is usually the orientation that their EQ-mounted telescopes when they peer at it, because the image is reversed due to the way a telescope works. Like the human eye, the telescope produces the image upside down, but in the case of the human eye, the brain re-interprets it as being right side up.

-RODION

[Peenut]

@rodsky: ohh I see rodz... invert diay ang image...

I wondered why a great storm would vanish in a belt?

Don't have any idea...

[rodsky]

This image will give you a good idea how complex Jupiter's clouds are. Take note this is an animated GIF image, so wait for 1 to 2 minutes to see the moving clouds.



Click on the image for a larger/full view


This is a black and white animated GIF of the Pioneer 10 space probe's approach toward the Jovian surface. Again, wait for several seconds to see the animation begin, and look at those complex cloud patterns on the bands.



-RODION