- Original Caption Released with Image:
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The top cloud layer on Jupiter is thought to consist of ammonia ice, but
most of that ammonia "hides" from spectrometers. It does not absorb light
in the same way ammonia does. To many scientists, this implies that
ammonia churned up from lower layers of the atmosphere "ages" in some way
after it condenses, possibly by being covered with a photochemically
generated hydrocarbon mixture. The New Horizons Linear Etalon Imaging
Spectral Array (LEISA), the half of the Ralph instrument that is able to
"see" in infrared wavelengths that are absorbed by ammonia ice, spotted
these clouds and watched them evolve over five Jupiter days (about 40
Earth hours). In these images, spectroscopically identified fresh ammonia
clouds are shown in bright blue. The largest cloud appeared as a localized
source on day 1, intensified and broadened on day 2, became more diffuse
on days 3 and 4, and disappeared on day 5. The diffusion seemed to follow
the movement of a dark spot along the boundary of the oval region. Because
the source of this ammonia lies deeper than the cloud, images like these
can tell scientists much about the dynamics and heat conduction in
Jupiter's lower atmosphere.
- Image Credit:
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NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute
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