NASA. LARGE FORMAT. HUBBLE TELESCOPE. View... - Lot 268 - Vermot et Associés

Lot 268
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NASA. LARGE FORMAT. HUBBLE TELESCOPE. View... - Lot 268 - Vermot et Associés
NASA. LARGE FORMAT. HUBBLE TELESCOPE. View of the planet JUPITER. This Hubble Space Telescope image highlights the distinct bands of swirling clouds characteristic of Jupiter's atmosphere. The view represents an extended map of the entire planet. Several bands of clouds, which are parallel to the equator (currently colored orange), are confined by jet streams that blow in opposite directions at different latitudes. A series of red oval-shaped cyclones is embedded in the red, swirling cloud band over the equator. Just above this band of clouds are white, oval-shaped wind systems called anticyclones. While cyclones are areas of low pressure, highs are areas of high pressure, with winds blowing in the opposite direction of the cyclone winds. Another characteristic chain of white, oval-shaped highs, observed for decades, appears along a band of latitude in the southern hemisphere of the planet. Jupiter's iconic large red spot is the orange oval on the left side of the image. This giant high rotates counterclockwise and is slightly larger in diameter than the entire Earth. It appears more orange than red in this image, with a small dark orange core in the center. The clouds moving toward the giant storm from right to left are darker than in recent Hubble observations. The clouds to the south, moving toward the Great Red Spot from west to east, are whiter than in previous studies. The Great Red Spot has decreased in size since the 1800s. A surprise is the color of the Junior Red Spot, a smaller storm than the Great Red Spot, which has changed from red to white in the last two years. The Jr. Red Spot appears near the center of the map, at a more southerly latitude than its legendary larger cousin. Telescopes had originally identified the Jr. Red Spot as an oval-shaped white storm, created by the merger of three white ovals about 20 years ago. Like a chameleon, it changed color, turning red in observations made in 2005. Today, it has recovered its original color. Researchers cannot yet explain why the Jr. red spot turned white again, or even why it turned red in the first place. Astronomers suggest that the red color is due to gases in Jupiter's turbulent atmosphere interacting with ultraviolet light from the Sun. One idea for the white color is that red dust enters the atmosphere. Sometimes ice condenses on the dust particles, giving them a frosty appearance and dimming the brightest colors. Precise color measurements using Hubble data suggest that these complex processes may work differently in the Great Red Spot and the Jr. Red Spot. The researchers combined several Hubble exposures to create this flat map, which excludes the polar regions (above 80 degrees latitude). The Hubble image is part of the annual maps of the entire planet taken as part of the Outer Planets Atmospheres Legacy program, or OPAL. This program provides annual Hubble global views of the outer planets to observe changes in their storms, winds and clouds.Vintage chromogenic print. Numbering in the margin on the front. Legend on label. 40.6 X 50.8CM with margins.
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