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Close up shot of the Eye of Jupiter [1825x1190] (i.imgur.com)

submitted ago by pepsi_next

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[–]DAVENP0RT 66 points67 points ago

I find it astonishing that this is a "close-up" of a structure that is the size of Earth's diameter.

[–]Stabies 65 points66 points ago

3 times the size of Earth, actually!

[–]SaDiablo 9 points10 points ago

O.O

[–]nav17 5 points6 points ago

literally mind boggling...i can't even imagine such a storm that is 3x larger than our planet

[–]HumerousMoniker 16 points17 points ago

And has been going for potentially more than 400 years.

[–]histak 2 points3 points ago

i was gonna say it'll be lot easier if there's some graphic to compare, like a map of the united states. silly me.

[–]drumercalzone09 78 points79 points ago

It looks like a van Gogh painting!

[–]cormega 40 points41 points ago

Why does it look so much like a painting as opposed to a real picture?

[–]_deffer_ 24 points25 points ago

Because the 'original' of this image was not this majestic and beautiful. This image has been edited and colored to fit the one that Voyager took - compiled mosaic

[–]Freak2121 13 points14 points ago

Here's my crappy attempt at white-balancing that original shot.

[–]_deffer_ 7 points8 points ago

I like that more than the one in OP - it's dreary and dark - better reflects the terror and mayhem depicted in the image.

[–]bleon20 1 point2 points ago

Everyone jokes about the white balance until the skin tones go magenta

[–]cormega 6 points7 points ago

Thank you. I'd honestly rather see this picture than an altered version.

[–]_deffer_ 11 points12 points ago

You should check out the 10MB tiff image.

Here - it's large, but awesome.

[–]32koala 9 points10 points ago

Because when you paint something they was van Gogh painted it, the colors of paint all swirl around and mix with each other. As similar thing is happening to the gasses on Jupiter. If you look at Jupiter's moons, they do not look like van Gogh paintings. If anything they look like sculptures.

[–]BlasphemyAway 1 point2 points ago

I see it closer to this.

[–]CountNoAccount 1 point2 points ago

Thank you. This is new to me.

[–]imnotminkus 1 point2 points ago

Reminds me more of Dali: painting 1, painting 2

[–]owmyfreakinears 39 points40 points ago

Eyes of Jupiter

[–]rossay83 22 points23 points ago

Praying Mantis of Jupiter.

[–]sirchewi3 9 points10 points ago

That looks a lot like ovaries and the uterus hahaha

[–]acmercer 2 points3 points ago

That's terrifying...

[–]DroneMan11 0 points1 point ago

Looks like the Judge in The Wall.

[–]tirceol 30 points31 points ago

Do some people call it the Eye of Jupiter? I was under the impression the universally (no pun intended) accepted name was the Great Red Spot.

EDIT: EoJ or GRS, whatever you decide to call it, is a vortex-like storm in Jupiter's southern hemisphere. It's been raging for as long as astronomers have been looking for it.

[–]Consequence6 10 points11 points ago

I've heard it both ways.

[–]zombient 30 points31 points ago

Jupiter's such a slut.

[–]AlphaHotel_94 4 points5 points ago

I call it the eye of Jupiter because of Battlestar Galactica...

[–]t_Lancer 0 points1 point ago

I knew there was a BSG reference here somewhere.

[–]daren_sf 1 point2 points ago

Wikipedia comes up in Google as EoJ but it links to GRS.

So...GRS FTW!?

[–]I_Post_Drunk 14 points15 points ago

This hurricane, a tiny part of the surface of Jupiter, could fit several Earths in it. Fucking WHAT.

[–]mexipimpin 13 points14 points ago

THAT is just all kinds of beautiful and amazing.

[–]machello 12 points13 points ago

Ever since I read "The Algebraist" by Iain M. Banks I never look at gas giants the same way. Also, this works very well as a lock screen background (I've had it on my iPhone for months).

[–]scriptmonkey420 5 points6 points ago

I have an Infrared Andromeda as mine, I think I might change it up to this one.

[–]lucasvb 4 points5 points ago

I had this version on my desktop for a while some time ago.

[–]scriptmonkey420 1 point2 points ago

Yup I have that one on my desktop also, is a great muilti-monitor wallpaper. I also like this image of Pleiades and Hyades for a multi-Monitor wallpaper

[–]therestruth 0 points1 point ago

Not bad I am taking this as my lock screen for a while.

[–]Liberal_Mormon 8 points9 points ago

It spins once every six days; I did some math approximating the circumference using an ellipse...

  • 3.2 +/- .8 * 104 km ~= major diameter

  • 1.3 +/- .1 * 104 km ~= minor diameter

  • Minimum circumference ~= 59607.529602559734 km

  • Maximum circumference ~= 94143.00162249319 km

Then approximated the potential linear* velocities on the edge of the storm

Average linear velocity = 2pirf = C * f = 1/(624) * Circumference

  • Minimum linear velocity ~= 413.94117779555370833333333333333 KPH
  • Maximum linear velocity ~= 653.77084460064715277777777777778 KPH

These are extremely rough estimates because the actual spot is an oval, not an ellipse

TL;DR: It is fast

Data from wikipedia

  • Thanks FTWinston for the correction!

[–]lefthandedspatula 3 points4 points ago

These are extremely rough estimates 653.77084460064715277777777777778

Well your number of significant digits seems to suggest otherwise.

[–]Liberal_Mormon 0 points1 point ago

It would not be rough if the eye was an actual ellipse. I could care less about significant figures right now since I'm not working in a lab.

[–]FTWinston 2 points3 points ago

Excuse the pedantry, but that's not an angular velocity! If you measure it in km/h, it's a linear velocity.

[–]Liberal_Mormon 0 points1 point ago

Units should have no affect on that. It's just a different form of the rate m/s. It doesn't matter.

[–]FTWinston 0 points1 point ago

Nah. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angular_velocity

Angular velocity is a combination of an angular speed (measured in Hz), and the axis about which it is rotating.

Knowing the radius, you can certainly convert that to a linear speed or velocity (in m/s, whatever, ofc the units don't matter, but the dimensions do)

[–]Liberal_Mormon 1 point2 points ago

Thanks for clearing that up for me, I'll be sure to change it next time I get to a computer (iReddit doesn't have edit support)

[–]european_impostor 0 points1 point ago

I thought an oval was an ellipse?

[–]Liberal_Mormon 0 points1 point ago

No. Oval

[–]BigJimSlade77 9 points10 points ago

Here is a GIF of Voyager's approach to Jupiter. Gives a great sense of all the action on the surface! (Off GRS's Wikipedia Page)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/790106-0203_Voyager_58M_to_31M_reduced.gif

[–]2Weird2Live2Rare2Die 3 points4 points ago

Are those lumps in the stream... smaller storms... the size of Earth... getting omnommed and spat out the other side? Jesus.

[–]xandmac 10 points11 points ago

whenever I see Jupiter, all I can think about is coffee

[–]BellyRave 9 points10 points ago

I wanna be in that.

[–]lemme_in_dammit 34 points35 points ago

No you don't. Really.

[–]teknoise 10 points11 points ago

says the guy named lemme_in_dammit.

[–]ketomine 3 points4 points ago

What's going on in that storm? Is it a hurricane, tornado? Is it wet? Sandstorm?

[–]DeskFlyer 17 points18 points ago

Think of it as a hurricane three times the size of Earth, but filled with cold hydrogen gas instead of water vapor and air.

[–]srmatto 0 points1 point ago

What would happen if we detonated a bomb in the center of that then? Is there oxygen there?

[–]DeskFlyer 0 points1 point ago

Would be a pin prick to it. No O2 there. Not much would happen, if at all.

[–]Gemini4t 2 points3 points ago

if at all

Strictly speaking, of course something would happen. But it would be limited to the mass of whatever we threw in there.

[–]fergusonwallace 0 points1 point ago

oh. good.

[–]LaziestManAlive 1 point2 points ago

"The GRS rotates counterclockwise, with a period of about six Earth days or 14 Jovian days"

I wonder if an observer could someone stand on the outer edge of the storm and if it is rotating fast enough to cause noticeable turbulence.

[–]BellyRave -2 points-1 points ago

I was kidding.

Edit: I get it. My derp.

[–]PictureTraveller -1 points0 points ago

better than a fleshlight

[–]darthpickley 2 points3 points ago

like Marble...

[–]rholec1290 2 points3 points ago

Anyone know how fast the winds are whipping around down in there? How violent is it? I could imagine it being like Katrina times a million and a half

[–]DeskFlyer 6 points7 points ago

Though winds around the edge of the spot peak at about 120 m/s (432 km/h, or 238.4 mph), currents inside it seem stagnant, with little inflow or outflow.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Red_Spot#Great_Red_Spot

[–]rholec1290 2 points3 points ago

Thanks hombre!! Now if only I had a spaceship and a kite...

[–]Cynikal818 4 points5 points ago

...that is a real picture?!

are you sure that wasn't made with a computer?

[–]trek247 8 points9 points ago

It's been enhanced, but it's a real picture.

Edit: Sources. Check out this comment from a previous thread. It contains a couple of relevant links. Also, notice the 10 MB TIFF image available at this link, which is the original source image.

[–]Cynikal818 1 point2 points ago

ahhhh...makes sense. thanks

[–]xMIASMAx 5 points6 points ago

So is this dust flying around or is that the actual surface of Jupiter?

[–]W00ster 21 points22 points ago

Jupiter has no surface, it's a gas planet.

[–]locster 15 points16 points ago

It maybe has a rocky or iron core.

[–]xMIASMAx 9 points10 points ago

OK, I remember that from school. So there is nothing there? its just a giant gas cloud? how does a gas cloud have mass? can gas have mass? i think I smoked to much, I've been stuck in spaceporn for far too long.

EDIT: I know I mentioned me smoking the drugs, please don't take that as me not actually wanting to find out more about this crazy shit. I really am fascinated with our galaxy and would love to learn more.

[–]cormega 8 points9 points ago

Virtually everything has mass.

[–]xMIASMAx 2 points3 points ago

See I always figured gas didn't. I don't know why i did i just did. So is there a possibility of landing on the surface of Jupiter? or does it have a surface? Or should we just stay away from it all together?

[–]I_Post_Drunk 8 points9 points ago

Of course gas has mass. It's a kind of matter, isn't it? Liquid nitrogen definitely has mass, so why wouldn't it when it boils away?

Anyway, Jupiter doesn't really have a surface, much the way that Earth's atmosphere doesn't really have a surface. It gets thinner and thinner until at some distance there's so little gas that you can't call it an atmosphere anymore. The same is true of Jupiter, except that Jupiter's atmosphere is much, much thicker, and much, much denser. Landing on it would make no sense; in fact, in order to not contaminate Jupiter's moons which might harbor life with any Earth bacteria that might be living on the Galileo probe, we crashed it into Jupiter, who promptly ate it.

[–]xMIASMAx 4 points5 points ago

so we have sent stuff there? Sorry I like most americans know more about celebs then I do about space. its a shame really.

[–]I_Post_Drunk 8 points9 points ago

No worries. Thankfully, you're interested, and that's enough. We can't all know everything about everything.

Here's a Wiki where you can read all about Galileo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_probe

In case you care, there's an equivalently capable and equally badass probe currently orbiting Saturn called Cassini: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassini%E2%80%93Huygens

[–]xMIASMAx 8 points9 points ago

Thanks! This should keep me occupied for the night.

[–]2Weird2Live2Rare2Die 2 points3 points ago

Props to you for asking questions and wanting to learn, and props to all who answered you. This thread made me smile.

[–]WhatDidIDoNow 1 point2 points ago

Why is it that we are so worried about contaminating other worlds with bacteria from Earth?

[–]MrPizzaSlicer 1 point2 points ago

Imagine in 30 years if we decided to probe for life on one of Jupiter's moons, much like the current Mars mission.

If we found life there - how would we know if it was actual Juipterian alien life, as opposed to our bacteria having prospered?

[–]WhatDidIDoNow 0 points1 point ago

On yeah, wow that makes sense. Damn... It's so crazy and freaking awesome.

[–]ketomine 2 points3 points ago

It's speculated to have a core, but the majority of the size you see is all gas, like a vapor. It would be great to explore, but it's very volatile, and very very far. So I don't think we could technically land, unless we went to the core, the pressure would be insane, like being at the bottom of the ocean. /i might be totally wrong about all that

[–]W00ster 3 points4 points ago

It may be possible that due to the pressure, one may see the gas take on a soft metallic form but we will never know for sure.

If it turns out to have a metallic core, theoretically it would then be possible to land but there are a few obstacles to overcome, pressure nothing we could ever build could withstand to start with. Toxic and corrosive gases would also wreck havoc with any man made systems trying to penetrate down to any core.

I guess we have to look to "Unobtainium" for a material strong enough ;-)

[–]deboma 0 points1 point ago

not to mention the gravity & the effects it would have on us & our stuff

[–]teknoise 0 points1 point ago

Even if it had a surface, the spacecraft would have to endure a ridiculous amount of pressure from the gases (and fluids?) above the surface.

[–]kente 0 points1 point ago

Makes me think of the movie Pi...

[–]From_H_To_Uuo 1 point2 points ago

how awesome is it that it looks like a pascal drawing.

[–]Audiophile_ 1 point2 points ago

Can anyone clever make this a wallpaper? :D endless love in advance

[–]twistacles 0 points1 point ago

That looks really cool! Thanks for sharing

[–]indyK1ng 0 points1 point ago

And just think, one whiff of that atmosphere and you'd probably die.

Of course, getting close enough to take that whiff would probably kill you too.

[–]2Weird2Live2Rare2Die 0 points1 point ago

I'd love it if someone with a firm grasp of all the factors would comment with exactly how many ways one would die if one were to try to inhale a deep breath of that storm. I can think of gravitational compression, toxic atmosphere, and of course flaying winds.

[–]Olibaba 1 point2 points ago

You realize the earth fits twice in that oval.

Think about it. The scale of the eddies in those currents are hundreds, if not thousands of km. Anywhere you would fly in there, it would just seem more or less straight, with an extremely slow curve to it.

[–]Infamise -1 points0 points ago

Looks like a beautiful painting to be honest.

That's just me though.

[–]supernerd1123 1 point2 points ago

so, exactly, how close IS this close up?

[–]jimb3rt 0 points1 point ago

The eye is three times the width of the earth, if that gives you some scale.

[–]supernerd1123 1 point2 points ago

i was just making a joke about calling it a close up :P

[–]JakeLunn 0 points1 point ago

Awesome picture. I would love to see that in motion.

[–]novaya3 0 points1 point ago

I may be seeing the wrong thing, but it's blowing my mind to look at the top left where it seems as if there's just a huge chasm that goes down into the clouds. Given that the spot is 3 times the size of our planet, if that actually is a rift in the clouds, it's wider than Africa. Think about floating above the edge of it. We can't even properly conceive a drop of that height.

I read somewhere as well that the edges of the Great Red Spot are roughly 30km taller than the surrounding cloudtops. If I ever get a terminal illness, I want NASA to put me in a pod and fling me into the atmosphere. That's the kind of thing I want to see as my last vista.

[–]tiradium 0 points1 point ago

Magnificent

[–]Eyger 0 points1 point ago

feel the most awe-some part of this image is the fact that the entire earth would fit many time into that spot.

[–]WayneSchlegel 0 points1 point ago

All these worlds are yours, except Europa, attempt no landing there!

[–]flesjewater 0 points1 point ago

Somewhere Jupiter really scares me. To think that it's all just gas and liquid, yet so huge.. I also recall reading somewhere that it would just float on water, theoretically. Is that true?

[–]Jzadek 0 points1 point ago

That's Saturn that would float. It's less dense.

[–]finitude 0 points1 point ago

TIL Jupiter is a giant cup of coffee with creamer swirling around the surface.

[–]harrydickinson 0 points1 point ago

We need more timelapses of this!!!!! for science! and also stoners! and generally curious people! And curious stoners!

[–]CountNoAccount 0 points1 point ago

This is an excellent source of recent Jupiter photos. The interaction between Oval BA and the GRS is fascinating to me. There's a theory that they get so powerful that they pull up exotic gases from lower depths in the atmosphere that react with UV from the sun and turn red.

[–]JKELL 1 point2 points ago

That's not close up...

[–]Mattdaddy -3 points-2 points ago

nice try shitty_watercolour

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