Jupiter Scar Likely From Titanic-Sized Asteroid

These infrared images obtained from NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility in Mauna Kea, Hawaii, show particle debris in Jupiter's atmosphere after an object hurtled into the atmosphere on July 19, 2009. (Credit: NASA/IRTF/JPL-Caltech/University of Oxford)

From Science Daily:

ScienceDaily (Jan. 26, 2011) — A hurtling asteroid about the size of the Titanic caused the scar that appeared in Jupiter's atmosphere on July 19, 2009, according to two papers published recently in the journal Icarus.

Data from three infrared telescopes enabled scientists to observe the warm atmospheric temperatures and unique chemical conditions associated with the impact debris. By piecing together signatures of the gases and dark debris produced by the impact shockwaves, an international team of scientists was able to deduce that the object was more likely a rocky asteroid than an icy comet. Among the teams were those led by Glenn Orton, an astronomer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and Leigh Fletcher, researcher at Oxford University, U.K., who started the work while he was a postdoctoral fellow at JPL.

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My Comment: That is one hell of a big scar.

Jupiter's Red Spot Has Warm Core

Bottom: Infrared picture of the Red Spot taken by VLT in Chile on 18 May 2008. Top: Visible-light image, which was obtained by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope on 15 May 2008. These images show the interaction of three of Jupiter's largest storms — the Great Red Spot and two smaller storms nicknamed Oval BA and Little Red Spot. Credit: ESO/NASA/JPL/ESA/L. Fletcher

From Cosmos:

SYDNEY: Jupiter's Great Red Spot is "extremely complicated", with a core that is warmer and spins in the opposite direction, scientists have found.

The Great Red Spot (GRS) is a storm three times the size of Earth, which spins mostly counter clockwise. It has persisted since at least 1831, and is the most recognisable feature on the striped planet.

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First Peek At Weather Inside Jupiter's Giant Red Spot

This visible light image of Jupiter's red spot shows how we would view the region with the naked eye

From The Daily Mail:

Jupiter's great red spot, which is the site of an enormous that could swallow Earth twice over, has fascinated astronomers for centuries.

Now scientists have made their first detailed weather map of the mysterious swirling region, thanks to new ground-breaking thermal images taken by the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope.

The map has linked the storm system's temperature, winds, pressure and composition with its distinctive reddish colour.

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Jupiter's Moons: Explanation For The Differences Between Ganymede And Callisto

Jupiter (right) and the Galilean satellites (right to left) Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. Cutaways show the interior states of Ganymede and Callisto after many impacts by icy planetesimals during the late heavy bombardment. Colors represent density, with black showing the rocky core (with a density 3 g/cm^3), blue showing mixed ice and rock (densities 1.8 to 1.9 g/cm^3) and white showing rock-free ice. (Credit: Southwest Research Institute)

From Science Daily:

Science Daily (Jan. 31, 2010) — Differences in the number and speed of cometary impacts onto Jupiter's large moons Ganymede and Callisto some 3.8 billion years ago can explain their vastly different surfaces and interior states, according to research by scientists at the Southwest Research Institute appearing online in Nature Geoscience Jan. 24, 2010.

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Comet Storm Split Destiny Of Jupiter's Twin Moons

Comet strikes may have warmed Ganymede enough for its
ice and rock to fully separate (Image: NASA/JPL)

From New Scientist:

Heavy pummelling by icy comets could explain why Jupiter's two biggest moons – apparently close kin – look so different inside.

At first glance, Ganymede and Callisto are virtually twins. The colossal moons are similar in size and mass, and are a roughly 50:50 mixture of ice and rock.

However, visits by the Galileo spacecraft beginning in 1996 tell a different story. Ganymede's interior boasts a solid rock core surrounded by a thick layer of ice, while ice and rock are still mingled in parts of Callisto. That suggests Callisto was never warm enough for its ice to melt and allow all of its rock to fall to the centre and form a core.

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Jupiter Moon’s Ocean Is Rich In Oxygen

The strange striations on Europa's surface are thought to have been caused by tidal stresses from Jupiter as the ice cracks and warmer layers come to the surface. The same process may be responsible for transporting oxygen below the surface. Credit: NASA

From Cosmos:

SYDNEY: The globe-spanning ocean on Jupiter’s moon Europa contains about twice the liquid water of all Earth’s oceans combined, says a new study, which finds it’s packed with oxygen which could support life.

Research completed by Richard Greenberg a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona in Tucson, USA, suggests that there could be as much as 100 times the amount of oxygen previously estimated. The findings were presented last week at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Fajardo, Puerto Rico.

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Europa, Jupiter's Moon, Could Support Complex Life

Europa, pictured above, may have enough oxygen to support complex, animal-like organisms, according to a new study. NASA

From Discovery:

Jupiter's moon Europa should have enough oxygen-rich water to support not only simple micro-organisms but also complex life, according to a University of Arizona researcher who studies ice flows on the frozen moon.

Judging by how quickly Europa's surface ice is replenished, Richard Greenberg estimates that enough oxygen reaches the subterranean ocean to sustain "macrofauna" -- more complex, animal-like organisms.

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