In the movie (and probably the book too, which I read but don't remember well) 2010: Odyssey Two, the planet Jupiter gets swallowed up by an exponentially proliferating swarm of ebony monoliths, which are the calling card of the never-seen Alien Intelligence that jump-started apedom's rise to humanity (in 2001: A Space Odyssey) and who also built the Star Gate (which is actually on Iapetus orbiting Saturn, but that's another story).
When the monoliths start to suck the gas of Jupiter into their gravitic maw, observers on the Alexei Leonov (the Russian spaceship -- Discovery with HAL aboard ends up being utilized for an extra boost) start to see the colors of Jupiter fade. I believe the character of John Lithgow notes this.
Well, in present-day 2010 (am I the only person on the entire Web that has noticed this?)*, Jupiter's colors are fading. Specifically, the South Equatorial Belt has faded out. This is actually not a new thing; it happens every 10-15 years, and then when new vortex storms form, they kick chemicals back into the mix, and the South Equatorial Belt darkens and reappears.
* After searching about, at least one other person posting about this mentioned a monolith.
Still, seeing the colors fade in 2010; there's an echo there. Thank you, Arthur.
Jupiter loses one of its stripes and scientists are stumped as to why
They may be stumped as to why, but they've studied it:
The South Equatorial Belt of Jupiter, I: Its Life Cycle
A. Sanchez-Lavega and J. M. Gomez
Icarus
Volume 121, Issue 1, May 1996, Pages 1-17
The South Equatorial Belt (SEB) of Jupiter, located between latitudes ~10°S and ~20°S, represents the archetype of a cyclically changing band between the belt and zone stages. A new analysis of the historical records has been performed, using various published observations and additional data in visual wavelengths, which permit characterization of cloud morphology patterns, the zonal and meridional motions, the zonal wind velocities, and the spatial and temporal scales of the variability of the SEB. For uniformity and clarity each phase of the cycle has been denoted with its proper nomenclature based on the traditional one. The following sequential stages can be distinguished: (i) Zone-like, global “fade” aspect (SEBF); (ii) Outbreak of activity with one or more independent sources in different longitudes but fixed latitudes (SEBD0), followed by the development and zonal expansion of a disturbance to planetary scale within the cyclonic band (SEBD); (iii) Propagation of the activity and formation of new disturbances in adjacent regions, tropical (20°S to 26°S, STrZD) and equatorial (5°S to 10°S, EZs activity). This phase, denoted globally as SEBD1 does not always develop after the SEBD; (iv) Normal belt-like stage (SEB), a period during which secondary outbursts simulating in some respects the SEBD can take place (also the STrZD and EZs disturbances can be present); (v) The cycle is completed with a rapid return to the SEBF phase. A new comprehensive list that includes quantitative data and detailed commentaries of all the documented events has been compiled. We propose and discuss possible dynamical scenarios involved in each one of these phases. In an accompanying paper (part II) the recent SEBD phase, whose onset occurred on April 6, 1993, is described in detail. The data presented in that paper describes the most thoroughly documented event to date and is based on our observations in the spectral range from 400 to 890 nm, which will serve as a guide for comparisons with simultaneous observations by other teams performed at other wavelengths.
No comments:
Post a Comment