(Absolutely for sure go to the link and read the whole article. And watch the movie. Gives you a new respect for the power of this planet's weather.)
http://www.sott.net/articles/show/208317-Jupiter-loses-one-of-its-beltsJupiter loses one of its belts
Bob King
Duluth News Tribune
Mon, 10 May 2010 21:24 EDT
(Snip)
The origin of all these belts and zones comes from deep below the planet. Bubbles of warmer air rise to the upper atmosphere and condense into clouds where they're are blown into alternating bands by 350+ mile per hour winds. Jupiter's rapid rotation is at the source of its ferocious winds -- a day on the planet whisks by in just 9.9 hours. This speedy spin coupled with Jupiter's gaseous nature is also the reason the planet is flattened like a squashed meatball instead of being more nearly spherical.
So here's the surprise. That bad boy south equatorial belt (SEB) has completely faded away. Point your scope at the planet any morning soon and you'll see only one obvious dark stripe, the North Equatorial Belt. Jupiter with only one belt is almost like seeing Saturn when its rings are edge-on and invisible for a time -- it just doesn't look right.
The SEB is one of the most active areas on the planet for weather changes. Every 3-15 years, the belt, which is normally dark reddish-brown in color and typically divided in two by the south equatorial belt zone, fades from view. After some weeks or months a brilliant white spot forms within that zone and begins spouting dark blobs of material which get stretched into filaments and ovals by Jupiter's fierce winds into a new SEB. Within a few weeks (or longer) the belt is back and Jupiter presents its familiar dual "tire track" appearance through a telescope.
