Jupiter

Jupiter has a long history of surprising scientists – all the way back to 1610 when Galileo Galilei found the first moons beyond Earth. That discovery changed the way we see the universe. Jupiter is, by far, the largest planet in the solar system – more than twice as massive as all the other planets combined.

Jupiter's familiar stripes and swirls are actually cold, windy clouds of ammonia and water, floating in an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium. Jupiter’s iconic Great Red Spot is a giant storm bigger than Earth that has raged for hundreds of years.

   Jupiter Blog
Jupiter Observing Alert
1/11/2025
NTB Outbreak
Clyde Foster's capture of the outbreak in methane light on January 10, 2025 at 18:56 UT
Clyde Foster and Manos Kardasis have just (Jan 10UT) imaged a bright spot in the NTBs jet region. This is likely the beginning of a major outbreak. John Rogers of the B.A.A. says, "We can expect it to become spectacular!"
It is brightest in the methane band, but should brighten in other wavelengths as it develops. It should create a a dark turbulent wake in the next few days.
Initial position is SYS 1 longitude of 168° with a drift of around -5° per day. (Note: the fast current travels at SYS 1 speed despite being at a latitude of around +26°.)
All observers are encouraged to monitor Jupiter as much as possible. There should be several more outbreaks at other longitudes in the coming days.
Send your images to jupiter@alpo-astronomy.org, following the Image Submission Guidelines so that your image will be searchable in the database.
Feel free to post your images to the ALPO Jupiter Section Groups.IO as well which can be found here.
Clear Skies,
Craig MacDougal
Assistant Coordinator
ALPO Jupiter Section
View all Jupiter Section Blogs
   Jupiter News Headlines
Amateur Revises Cloud Composition
1/6/2025

Physics.org Logo
Amateur astronomer Dr. Steven Hill out of Colorado has recently helped redefine the composition of Jupiter's clouds. Dr. Hill's method of simply comparing the brightness in adjacent, narrow colored filters suggests that the clouds of Jupiter are actually at deeper pressures and so cannot be composed of pure ammonia ice. It turns out the main cloud deck is likely ammonium hydrosulfide mixed with photochemical, smoggy products that are brown in color.

Read More

Massive Jovian Thunderstorms
12/10/2024

LiveScience Logo
The South Equatorial Belt on Jupiter has erupted recently with a pair of very large (bigger than Earth) thunderstorms. Seen as white areas within the normally brown colored belt, it was first noticed as a brilliant, white oval back on November 11th that has blossomed into a pair of white patches. According to Jupiter expert Dr. John Rogers, as these storms get pulled apart, there is potential for their white the familiar brown belt to fade as its color is diluted by the white storm front.

Read More

More Jupiter News Headlines
   Event Calendar

2025-01-14 02:18
Jupiter NTB Outbreak on CM

2025-01-14 12:13
Jupiter NTB Outbreak on CM

2025-01-14 22:09
Jupiter NTB Outbreak on CM

2025-01-15 08:04
Jupiter NTB Outbreak on CM

2025-01-15 18:00
Jupiter NTB Outbreak on CM

2025-01-16 03:55
Jupiter NTB Outbreak on CM

Full Jupiter Section Calendar
Gallery Spotlight
Hover over image for details