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| Storms larger than Earth have appeared on Jupiter: because of them, the peculiarity of the planet may disappear
New photos of the gas giant show huge thunderstorms spewing green lightning. They may lead to the "disappearance" of one of Jupiter's giant bands.
Two giant white thunderstorms have been spotted in Jupiter's South Equatorial Belt, one of two huge reddish-brown bands that straddle the planet's equator in different hemispheres. Scientists believe that these storm clouds can cause the Southern Equatorial Belt to change color and may even lead to its "disappearance", writes Live Science.
Astrophotographer Michael Carrer has taken stunning new images of Jupiter, and they show two white spot thunderstorms in the gas giant's South Equatorial Belt. It is a southern red-brown band that, like the Northern Equatorial Belt, encircles the region near Jupiter's equator and consists of clouds that move as the planet rotates on its axis. Scientists believe that these white storm clouds could lead to a change in Jupiter's appearance.
The exact width of thunderstorms is still unknown, but scientists assume that they are so large that the Earth could easily fit in them and there would even be room. According to astronomer John Rogers of the British Astronomical Association, the last time such giant thunderstorms were observed on Jupiter was 8 years ago.
White thunderstorms are not large enough to exist long enough in the same form, such as the famous Great Red Spot on Jupiter. These storm clouds will break apart over time, Rogers said. When this happens, their white hue will mix with the brown-red color of the rest of the Southern Equatorial Belt. Thus, another famous feature of Jupiter will "disappear", because it will lose its familiar color. The photo shows that this process is already starting, because several thin white streaks are stretching from the thunderstorms.
Astronomers have already seen a change in the color of Jupiter's South Equatorial Belt between 1973 and 1991, when similar thunderstorms changed the appearance of this band. It also changed, albeit briefly in 2010. Scientists still cannot say for sure whether the appearance of new thunderstorms will change the appearance of Jupiter and make one of its equatorial bands "disappear".
Thunderstorms on Jupiter are created by convection, or mixing of gases within the planet's atmosphere, and they produce lightning. If on Earth lightning often has a blue tint due to the presence of water vapor in storm clouds, then on Jupiter lightning is often green due to the presence of ammonia in clouds.
Jupiter was at its closest point to Earth on December 6, when Earth was almost in a straight line between the gas giant, the largest planet in the Solar System, and the Sun. Jupiter is thus bright enough now that it can still be seen not only with telescopes but also with the naked eye for the next few weeks.
