Jupiter's Great Red Spot may work as heat pump

[MAGUFULI JEMBE]

Astronomers using an infrared telescope in Hawaii have found that Jupiter's Great Red Spot may be pumping heat to the upper atmosphere. Scientists had long wondered why parts of the planet were much warmer than expected. Scientists may have found their answer to why temperatures in Jupiter's upper atmosphere are similar to those on Earth, even though the planet lies five times farther away from the sun. Using an infrared telescope at the Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii, observers found that - above the Great Red Spot (GRS) - the upper atmosphere is hundreds of degrees hotter than other observable parts of the planet. "We could see almost immediately that our maximum temperatures at high altitudes were above the Great Red Spot far below - a weird coincidence or a major clue?" Boston University research scientist James O'Donoghue said. The study was described in the journal Nature. Through a process of elimination, scientists worked out that the hot spot must be being heated via the storm below. The exact process for such heat transfer is unknown, but experts have put forward that acoustic or gravity waves from below could be raising the temperature. An Boston University image depicting the process was tweeted by NASA.