Jupiter (Planet) -- Photographs from space; Jupiter probes; Voyager Project
The large white ovals are about forty years old. Dr. Smith explained how
they formed: Between 1939 and 1940, “where those three white spots exist
right now, was a rather bright band similar to the north temperate zone
we see on Jupiter right now. In that time period of a year or so, three
darkish spots formed. A dark cloud spread out at each one of those three
locations and just kept spreading longitudinally until the white
material condensed between them.” In the end, everything was dark except
for the three ovals, which have persisted ever since.
Torrence Johnson of the Imaging Team commented on a photo of Io in which
features resembling circular crater-type structures seemed to be
visible. “Whatever they are, [those circular features] are approaching
the size of the things that we would call basins if they were impact
structures on other planets. We don’t really know whether they’re impact
structures. They have some characteristics that look reminiscent of
impact structures. They could be endogenic—volcanic in origin—or
internally generated in some other way.” Johnson also showed another
photograph of Io, this one taken against black sky, showing a
“strikingly different face” looking, perhaps, like someone’s nightmare,
glaring back at the intruder from Earth. One huge feature—a “bullseye”
or “hoof print” on Io—appeared to be approximately 1000 kilometers long.
No one had ever seen such a feature, and the imaging scientists could
only speculate about its significance.
[Illustration: Small-scale structures in the jet streams of
Jupiter’s north tropical zone reveal details of atmospheric
circulation. The small dark oval near the right edge of the zone may
offer a glimpse deep into Jupiter’s atmosphere. Between the
regularly spaced dark ovals near the bottom of the frame are more
small-scale features that are being studied for their roles in
Jovian atmospheric activity. The blue-gray regions along the shear
line between the equatorial zone and the north equatorial belt also
appear to be windows into the deeper regions of the atmosphere. This
photo was taken February 19 by Voyager 1 from a distance of 14
million kilometers. [P-21160C]]
A few days earlier, someone had posted in the Imaging Team area a quote
from a 1975 review paper on the Jovian satellites by David Morrison and
Joseph Burns. The section on Io began, “Io is one of the most intriguing
objects in the solar system.” This statement seemed more and more
appropriate as Voyager images improved. Johnson referred to this day as
equivalent to the “late 1960s” in our study of the Jovian satellites.
“We can see much more clearly than ever before, but still not clearly
enough to provide understanding of what we are seeing.”
Sunday, March 4.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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