[1] First views of the 2010 apparition.

First views of Jupiter in the 2010 apparition


Now that Jupiter has reappeared from behind the sun, Tomio Akutsu, Anthony Wesley, and Chris Go have already sent the first images of the new apparition.  Here are Wesley's images with key features labelled (some of them identified by Michel Jacquesson).  A quick overview of the images shows:

SSTB:  Several of the long-lived white ovals are recognised again.
STB: Oval BA began to redden again in late 2009, and is distinctly red now (as Chris Go has pointed out). 

SEB:  SEB(N) is a narrow dark line, and the rest of the belt is very faint, esp. f. the GRS.  It is a pale fawn colour, with a faint  blue central component p. the GRS.  The prominent dark barge f. the GRS is still present, distinctly reddish.
The GRS (L2 = 148) is strongly red, and also has two associated features that often appear in these circumstances: a very bright white Red Spot Hollow, and a dark blue triangle Np. it. (We discussed the origins of these last autumn.)
The SED should be passing the GRS, and may be represented by the dark blue streak in the EZ.

NEB:  The broadening event is now complete: the belt is very broad.  The conspicuous white oval is presumably white spot Z, which may have merged with last year's white spot Y during solar conjunction. There is a very dark barge Sp. it.  There are still several rifts in the NEB.

NTB:  Around CM2 ~ 277, the NTB is still largely orange-tinted with dark streaks on NTBn, but the orange colour has faded a lot since last year. At other longitudes, the orange colour has been reduced to a narrow fringe on the S edge of a dark grey belt.

NNTZ:  NN-LRS-1 is still strongly red.

Will the SEB Revival begin this year?  Only time will tell.
Best wishes for clear and steady skies,

John Rogers,
2010 April 16.

_________________________________

John H. Rogers, Ph.D.
Jupiter Section Director,
British Astronomical Association