Thursday, October 12, 2006

Red Spot Jr. is Getting Stronger





Jupiter's newly formed Red Spot Jr. is increasing in strength, according to new observations from the Hubble Space Telescope. These latest measurements clock its windspeeds at 640 kph (400 mph); almost double the speeds recorded by the Voyager spacecraft when it observed one of the spot's parent storms in 1979. The increased windspeed probably dredged up deeper material from the planet, changing its colour from white to red, similar to the Great Red Spot.


I'm just waiting for some oil industry flunkie to use this to argue that storms are getting worse everywhere and that it's Not Our Fault.

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