INTERNATIONAL JUPITER WATCH NEWSLETTER

Correction and Apology --- Glenn Orton served two terms as chair of the IJW for a total of 6 years. Sorry, Glenn!!

Exciting and unusual events are in store for Galileo and its team today. An unusual opportunity will occur this morning to measure the gases that are in the upper part of Jupiter's atmosphere. We will take advantage of Galileo passing behind Jupiter as seen from Earth, and look at how the spacecraft's radio signals are changed as they go through different places in Jupiter's atmosphere. As Galileo goes just behind Jupiter, and when it comes out again, the radio signal will be affected by the gases it passes through, and the amount of change is determined by the kind of gas it goes through. To add some drama to this event, Galileo will be out of communications with Earth for about 5 hours, and we will eagerly await for the first signals again around 9 or 10 AM PST.

In the evening, the spacecraft will enter Jupiter's shadow, and turn back to look at Jupiter's thin rings, which are normally hard to see but visible from the angle we'll be looking from. At the same time, we'll be watching for lightning and aurora on Jupiter. Also, Galileo will image Europa looking for evidence of icy volcanoes.

For information on the Galileo spacecraft and its mission to Jupiter, see the Galileo home page.

There will be special sessions on Galileo Results during the next AGU meeting. Atmospheres session including and earth-based support will be on Sunday, Dec. 15 in the afternoon in San Francisco's Moscone Convention Center.

SUMMARY

This is a further report on Isao Miyazaki's CCD images, up to 1996 Sep. 23. A set of Don Parker's images, April to July, has also just been received but has not been included in this report. Several visual observers have also sent observations, and their transits of the NEBs dark projections agree well with the data from images. We may get some additional data over the next month, but after that, there is unlikely to be much if anything more until next May.

Longitudes are given in Systems I and II (\1, \2), with conversion from \2 to \3 at the end. \\2 [\\1] is drift in System II [I] in degrees per 30 days. Latitudes are zenographic.

NORTH TEMPERATE REGION
The two Little Red Spots at 42.5 deg.N (bright in methane) have varied irregularly in longitude but, over the whole apparition, have had sustained but different average drifts. Thes drifts reinforce the view that they were the same spots imaged in 1995.

The North Temperate Belt has a well-separated north component spanning ~150 degrees, so the whole N. Temperate domain is shaded in these longitudes. In other longitudes, NTZ is clear white with a narrow NNTB separating it from a yellowish NNTZ.

There are no more NTBs jetstream spots. In keeping with the historical tendency for features to appear in the 'N. Temp. Current B' shortly after a NTBs jetstream outbreak ends, there has been a short faint sector of NTB moving at a rate of -106 to -150 deg/month (Sys II) from June to September.

NORTH EQUATORIAL BELT
The NEB remains broad. Cyclonic dark 'barges' may well develop at 16 deg.N within the next year, following the NEB expansion event, but we do not see any yet. If the Galileo team wish to locate one for targetting, IRTF 5-micron images the spring, 1997, may offer the best chance of doing so.

On the NEBs edge, the dark projections (5-micron hotspots) have been very large and dark and bluish since the NEB expansion event. They show diverse drifts. Four (listed in the table below) were large 'plateaux' with unusually slow rotation periods (i.e. positive drifts in System I ranging from +13 to +20 deg/month). Their shapes have varied a lot, and in September they were more compact dark projections. In the remaining ~180 degrees of longitude, the dark projections are smaller and have lesser but variable drifts. On Sep.8 they were at 48, 68, 88, 122, 158, 184 deg. in System I longitude. The first two had positive drifts early in the year but were stationary in September. (Thus the 'PES Hotspot' was fixed at longitude (Sys I) = 68 deg from late July to mid Sep., but it then merged with a projection 20 deg. west of it, so it is no longer distinct as of Sep.22.) The others have been roughly stationary since first observed in June, but variable in drift and appearance; the last one developed from a string of tiny dark spots left in the wake of retrograding projection (a) in the table below. I have no confidence in any of these dark projections persisting unchanged until December.

SOUTH TROPICAL REGION
Vigorous white spot activity continues in the SEBZ immediately f. the GRS. Its f. edge was at ~ 93deg (Sys II) on Aug.31 but a distinct outbreak of new white spots occurred up to 98 deg by Sep.2 [according to visual observers as well as images]. So far it has not extended further.

On the SEBs edge, most of the almost-stationary dark spots in the STropZ have been transient, though a tiny orange streak in the SEB, at 16.5 deg.S, persisted at least till Sep.3.

The prominent white oval, which has been tracked since 1987, is steadily approaching the GRS. Its present drift would bring it to the edge of the Red Spot Hollow in 1997 April. If it persists, this will be a very interesting interaction to observe, because no such long-lived S. Tropical oval has ever been seen to interact with the GRS: will it merge with the GRS like SEBs jetstream spots do, or keep some distance away like the S. Temperate ovals do from each other, or just dissipate before the encounter?

The GRS has gradually lost the very dark grey collar around the S. edge.

SOUTH TEMPERATE REGION
The aspect is little changed, including the cluster of four anticyclonic white ovals, BC-DE-XY-FA, now accompanied by three cyclonic ovals in the spaces between them. The white cyclonic ovals between BC-DE and between XY-FA have swung to and fro as drift rates have varied slightly, but they remain distinct; also a grey cyclonic oval has developed between DE-XY. The average longitudinal spacing of the anticyclonic ovals has slowly shrunk from 20 deg. (May) to 18 deg. (Sep.); also, two more tiny anticyclonic ovals have appeared 18 deg. on either side, so the array now has 6 anticyclonic white ovals. Oval DE has maintained an absolutely constant drift rate of -12 deg/month in System II. Therefore we can expect this oval (and perhaps its interesting cyclonic neighbours) to be correctly in place for the Galileo targetting in 1997 February.

No account is taken of phase effect, which may be negligible on these high-quality images; further measurements are required to determine it. If there is a phase effect, the longitudes for Dec.19 may be overestimated by up to 3 deg.

The Practical Uses of Math And Science (PUMAS) Web Site

We are currently collecting examples, and anticipate opening the Site to general users in Spring or Summer, 1997, once the collection contains a number of entries. K-12 teachers are also needed now, as well as scientists, to serve in the pool of PUMAS reviewers. The on-line "Participant Volunteer/Update form" can be found from the Navigation portion of the Help page, or from the hyperlink at the top of the PUMAS Examples Search page.

The PUMAS Web Site is at: http://pumas.jpl.nasa.gov. For additional information, contact: ralph.kahn@jpl.nasa.gov (818-354-9024)