The lost ring

[Robert Watson]

Jupiter has lost one of it's belts.

After reappering from behind the sun one of it's lower belts had gone.

Read it for yourself goto to google and type in Jupiter:icon_scratch:

[Bladeflyer]

Jupiter loses one of its stripes and scientists have no idea why | Mail Online

[DarkerSky]

Indeed. It is the South Equatorial Band (SEB) that has disappeared - a spectacular phenomena that happens on a semi-regular basis. I remember observing the SEB disappearance and revival in the early 1990s. Really quite amazing.

Basically it happens on anything between a 3 and 30 yr cycle. The Great Red Spot should be quite intense now during this apparition. The revival willb egin with the appearance of a thin dark streak where the SEB is located. Over time dark spots will begin swirling out from this thin line with some prgrade motion of various features. The GRS will then fade a bit and the SEB will come back to life.

It adds so much excitement to observing Jupiter - quite an amazing planet.

[barkis]

I think It's been obscured by volcanic ash poured out from Io.

Perhaps the Plasma Torus, associated with Io's orbit has also something to do with it.

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Net Info, I'm quoting, but it doesn't say anything about the SEB's

disappearance being tied up with these phenomena.

Ron.

[DarkerSky]

I think It's been obscured by volcanic ash poured out from Io.

Perhaps the Plasma Torus, associated with Io's orbit has also something to do with it.

-----------------------------------------

Net Info, I'm quoting, but it doesn't say anything about the SEB's

disappearance being tied up with these phenomena.

Ron.

Hi Ron - My (limited) understanding is that it is a physical phenomenon in the Jupiter cloud deck to do with wind shear. That is what my Norton's star atlas seems to suggest about it