2015 May 17
A three-year weather forecast for Jupiter
It may seem implausible to make a long-range weather forecast for Jupiter when we cannot do it for Earth, but the BAA’s Jupiter Section Director has made the attempt anyway. Thanks to the excellent quality and frequency of amateur images in recent years, we have recently come to understand much more about the planet’s multi-year climatic patterns, so that we can estimate the likelihood of new cycles developing in various latitude bands. A new cycle in the North Tropical domain seems to be starting about now. A new cycle in the North Temperate domain is predicted to start in early 2017. The South Tropical domain is predicted to continue its present ‘normal’ type of activity. It will be interesting to revisit these forecasts 3 years from now. Details have been posted on the BAA Jupiter Section web site at:
http://www.britastro.org/jupiter/2014_15reports.htm
(go to report no.5)
The picture shows Jupiter on 2007 April 5, with brilliant white plumes constituting a NTB outbreak. Image by Zac Pujic. Will the same happen again in early 2017?
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