Astro-Porn of the Day: Jupiter's Southern Equatorial Belt has vanished

[mckitterick]

Holy disappearing belts, Batman! It turns out that one of Jupiter's major features — its South Equatorial Belt (south is at the top in the photos below) — is gone. Why? Astronomers have no idea, but theorize that intense storm activity is hiding it. They also have no idea how long the belt will remain invisible.


Click the image to see the story.

What a disappointment for astronomers: This is a particularly beautiful feature to observe in a telescope. On the other hand, seeing the newly nekkid world is a rare treat. Because this isn't the first time this has happened, scientists expect the South Equatorial Belt to return one day. Still, in the immortal words of Keanau Reeves, "Whoah."

Chris

Comments

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

What earthy (har) good is it to put south end up in those pictures?

K.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

That's just how optics make it look! Some places modify the images to swap how things would look in person, but looks like NASA didn't! Maybe it's to show us how it would look in a telescope.