木星没有条纹
在一个已经改变了太阳系最大的行星,木星的云带一两个主要的发展出现完全消失。
"This is a big event," says planetary scientist Glenn Orton of NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab. “这是一个很大的事件,说:”行星科学家格伦顿的美国航空航天局喷气推进实验室。 "We're monitoring the situation closely and do not yet fully understand what's going on." “我们正在密切注视情况并没有完全理解是怎么回事。”
Known as the South Equatorial Belt (SEB), the brown cloudy band is twice as wide as Earth and more than twenty times as long.作为南赤道带(赛博),棕色带多云知道的是地球的两倍,只要超过20倍宽。 The loss of such an enormous "stripe" can be seen with ease halfway across the solar system.这样的亏损是巨大的“条纹”可以轻松越过太阳系中途看到。
"In any size telescope, or even in large binoculars, Jupiter's signature appearance has always included two broad equatorial belts," says amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley of Australia. “在任何大小的望远镜,甚至在大型望远镜,木星的标志性外观,始终包含两大赤道带,”韦斯利说,业余天文学家安东尼澳大利亚。 "I remember as a child seeing them through my small backyard refractor and it was unmistakable. Anyone who turns their telescope on Jupiter at the moment, however, will see a planet with only one belt--a very strange sight." “我记得一个小后院看到通过我的孩子和他们的折射望远镜是明白无误的。任何谁转,目前他们的望远镜对木星,但是,会看到只有一个带 - 一个非常奇怪的一幕的星球。”
Wesley is a veteran observer of Jupiter, famous for his discovery of a comet hitting the planet in 2009.韦斯利是木星,他的命中彗星在2009年发现的行星著名资深观察员。 Like many other astronomers, he noticed the belt fading late last year, "but I certainly didn't expect to see it completely disappear," he says.像其他许多天文学家,他发现带衰落去年年底,“但我肯定没想到会看到它完全消失,”他说。 "Jupiter continues to surprise." “木星仍然感到惊讶。”
Orton thinks the belt is not actually gone, but may be just hiding underneath some higher clouds.奥顿认为,带是不实际了,但可能只是一些高云底躲藏。
"It's possible," he hypothesizes, "that some 'ammonia cirrus' has formed on top of the SEB, hiding the SEB from view." “这是可能的,”他推测,“有些'氨Cirrus的形成对SEB的顶部,隐藏从查看SEB的。” On Earth, white wispy cirrus clouds are made of ice crystals.在地球上,稀疏的白色卷云是由冰晶。 On Jupiter, the same sort of clouds can form, but the crystals are made of ammonia (NH3) instead of water (H20).在木星,同样类型的云层形成,但使晶体氨(氨气),而不是水(H20)。
什么会导致这种“氨卷云”广泛的爆发？ Orton suspects that changes in global wind patterns have brought ammonia-rich material into the clear, cold zone above the SEB, setting the stage for formation of the high-altitude, icy clouds. 奥顿嫌疑人，在全球风力格局的变化带来了富含氨的有毒物质进入清晰，寒冷地区高于赛博，设置为高海拔，冰云的形成阶段。
"I'd love to send a probe in there to find out what's really going on." “我喜欢在那里派遣一个探测器，找出什么是真的了。”
Indeed, Jupiter's atmosphere is a mysterious place which would benefit from exploration. 事实上，木星的大气层是一个神秘的地方将受益于勘探。 No one knows, for instance, why the Great Red Spot is red—or what has sustained the raging storm for so many years. 没有人知道，例如，为什么大红斑是红色，或者哪持续了这么多年肆虐的风暴。 Neither does theory explain why the twin equatorial belts are brown, nor why one should vanish while the other remains. 也没有解释为什么这两个理论赤道带是棕色的，也不为什么要消失，而其他遗骸。 "We have a long list of questions," says Orton. “我们有一长串的问题，”奥顿说。
This isn't the first time the SEB has faded out. 这不是第一次赛博已消退。
"The SEB fades at irregular intervals, most recently in 1973-75, 1989-90, 1993, 2007, 2010," says John Rogers, director of the British Astronomical Association's Jupiter Section. “消失的赛博不定期，最近一次是在1973-75，1989-90，1993年，2007年，2010年，”罗杰斯说，约翰，英国天文协会的木星科主任。 "The 2007 fading was terminated rather early, but in the other years the SEB was almost absent, as at present." “2007年的衰落而被终止早，但在其他年份的赛博几乎缺席，截至目前。”
The return of the SEB can be dramatic. 该SEB的回报可以戏剧性。
"We can look forward to a spectacular outburst of storms and vortices when the 'SEB Revival' begins," says Rogers. “我们可以期待着风暴和旋涡当'赛博复兴'开始壮观的爆发，”罗杰斯说。 "It always begins at a single point, and a disturbance spreads out rapidly around the planet from there, often becoming spectacular even for amateurs eyeballing the planet through medium-sized telescopes. However we can't predict when or where it will start. On historical precedent it could be any time in the next 2 years. We hope it will be in the next few months so that everyone can get a good view. “它总是始于一个单点，并迅速向外扩散的骚乱从那里周围的行星，甚至常常成为目测通过中型地球的业余望远镜壮观。然而，我们无法预测何时何地会开始。论历史的先例，它可以是任何在未来2年时间。我们希望它会在未来数个月的时间，使每个人都能获得良好的看法。
"I'll be watching every chance I get," says Wesley. “我会看每一个机会，我得到的，”韦斯利说。 "The revival will likely be sudden and dramatic, with planet-circling groups of storms appearing over the space of just a week or so." “在复苏将可能是突然和巨大的行星绕组的风暴在短短的一周左右的空间出现。”
Indeed, says Orton, "anyone could be the first to spot the return of the SEB." 事实上，奥顿说，“任何人都可以成为第一个现场的SEB的回报。”
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