00:01Picture a tiger. Tigers are known for their beautiful stripes, which they always keep the same.
00:07However, imagine if the tiger's stripes could change their size, position and colors from time to time.
00:14Magical, right? But that's exactly what happens with one titan of our solar system, Jupiter.
00:20Why and how? Well, astronomers might just have the answer, so let's see.
00:25Jupiter is a huge and fascinating planet. When you're looking at its picture from far away, it's like seeing a beautiful sunrise.
00:33Here we have an entire palette, from creamy pale yellows to caramel browns, with even some blue shades.
00:40Jupiter is a fascinating place made mostly of hydrogen and helium, just like our Sun.
00:48However, it didn't gather enough stuff during its formation to become a star.
00:53Instead, it became a colossal ball of gas that could fit more than 1,300 Earths inside.
01:00Jupiter has these interesting patterns of dark and light clouds that go around the planet in alternating bands, like giant stripes.
01:10These dark stripes are called belts, and lighter ones are called zones.
01:14Actually, it's not unique in this. Earth and Jupiter both have these cool patterns in their atmospheres.
01:21It's just that Earth has a few of them, but Jupiter has a lot more.
01:25Why are these belts brown and beige?
01:28Those can be explained by the combination of hydrogen, helium, and other trace elements in the planet's atmosphere.
01:35It's like mixing different colors of paint to create new shades.
01:40These belts create beautiful patterns across the planet's surface.
01:45Now, because Jupiter has such a massive atmosphere and a weather system similar to Earth's, it experiences some extraordinary storms.
01:52So even though these stripes may look calm and peaceful, they're actually part of a wild weather system.
01:57It's like a never-ending storm party happening there.
02:01These belts and zones move in opposite directions around the planet.
02:05The belts go against Jupiter's rotation, like going against the flow, while the zones go with it, joining the dance.
02:13And not only do they move in different directions, but they also exist at different heights in the planet's atmosphere.
02:19The belts are like regions where things are rising up, like bubbles in a fizzy drink.
02:24So the cloud tops in the belts are higher up in the sky compared to the cloud tops in the zones, which are more like sinking areas.
02:31So, even though Earth and Jupiter have this similarity, their weather is completely different.
02:37It's like comparing apples and oranges.
02:40One of the most famous storms on Jupiter is the Great Red Spot.
02:45But why is it red?
02:47Well, that's a bit of a mystery.
02:49Scientists think that the storm sits at a higher altitude than the rest of the atmosphere.
02:54This means it gets a stronger dose of sunlight.
02:58Imagine standing on a hilltop, where the sun shines brighter on you compared to the surroundings.
03:03In a similar way, the Great Red Spot gets more radiation from the sun.
03:07The storm also contains some special chemicals in its clouds, like ammonia and acetylene.
03:14When these chemicals receive that extra radiation, they react in a unique way, giving the storm its distinct red color.
03:21It's like a special effect in a cosmic theater.
03:24Anyway, the stripes look pretty cool and all.
03:26But what's the big mystery around them?
03:28Well, you see, one day scientists decided to look at data from deep inside Jupiter, about 30 miles below the surface.
03:36And after peeking in Jupiter's secrets, they noticed something strange.
03:41When they looked at Jupiter using a special type of light called infrared, the colors of its stripes actually switched around.
03:48The light bands that were pale and creamy in normal pictures become dark in the infrared view.
03:53The dark bands that were belts before now shined brightly in the infrared.
03:58This suggests something interesting.
04:00The belts on Jupiter have thinner cloud coverings compared to the zones.
04:03It's like the belts are wearing sheer, see-through outfits, while the zones have thicker clouds, like fluffy jackets.
04:09So, what we see as dark bands in normal pictures turn out to be bright in the infrared, hinting that these belts have less cloud stuff blocking the light.
04:18But here's the most strange part.
04:21Every few years, something changes.
04:24It's like the weather on Jupiter goes through a wild roller coaster ride.
04:28The colors of the belts can change, and sometimes the whole weather pattern becomes a bit crazy for a while.
04:34Scientists have been scratching their heads, trying to figure out why this happens.
04:39So they've decided to use a special spacecraft called Juno to investigate this.
04:44Since 2016, Juno has been gathering a lot of information about Jupiter, like a spy collecting clues.
04:54One of the things Juno has been looking at is Jupiter's magnetic field.
04:59Just like Earth, Jupiter has a magnetic field.
05:02It's like an invisible bubble that surrounds the planet, extending to space.
05:06This magnetic field is really important because it protects the planet and everything on it.
05:12It acts like a shield against harmful particles from space, like those coming from the sun.
05:17But Jupiter's way bigger than us, so his protective shield is much stronger.
05:23Magnetic fields are generated by something called a dynamo, which is like a big swirling conducting fluid inside the planet.
05:30This fluid moves around and rotates, kind of like a dance party happening deep within the planet.
05:35So scientists have been looking at the data collected by Juno over the years and noticed something interesting.
05:42Jupiter's magnetic field has its own little motions, kind of like when you see waves in the ocean.
05:48Scientists call these motions torsional oscillations, which is just a fancy way of saying wave-like movements.
05:54It's like Jupiter is doing its own magnetic dance.
05:57Now let's imagine that Jupiter's insides are like a giant pot of boiling soup.
06:03Deep within Jupiter, there are slow currents that carry heat upwards, just like a conveyor belt.
06:09This heat eventually reaches the upper part where we see the clouds.
06:13But here's where things get interesting.
06:16Imagine someone starts stirring the soup really fast with a spoon.
06:20Those wavy magnetic movements, the torsional oscillations, act just like that spoon.
06:25They create a disturbance that messes up the slow currents.
06:28Now this disruption has a big impact on Jupiter's weather.
06:32It's like turning up the heat in the kitchen and changing the way the soup cooks.
06:38The patterns of rising and sinking in the clouds, which we call upwelling and downwelling, get all mixed up.
06:44A whirlwind in the soup.
06:47Our clever scientists also noticed something special near Jupiter's equator.
06:52They discovered a concentrated spot of magnetism called the Great Blue Spot.
06:57And guess what?
06:58This spot is slowing down, like it's taking a break from its usual fast movement.
07:03This suggests that a new type of wavy motion, a new dance, is about to begin.
07:09So to sum it all up, the scientists have come up with a cool idea.
07:13These wavy magnetic movements, the torsional oscillations, disrupt the slow currents inside Jupiter, messing up the cloud patterns and causing wild weather.
07:23And when the scientists calculated the time it takes for these wave-like motions to happen, they discovered that they match the same time periods when the stripes on Jupiter change.
07:32So, in simple terms, the scientists think that these wave-like movements in Jupiter's magnetic field are causing the changes in the stripes on the planet.
07:42Pieces of a puzzle are coming together.
07:44Scientists are still trying to fully understand why this happens.
07:48But it's an exciting step forward in unraveling the mysteries of our vast universe.
07:53But there are still some mysteries left to solve.
07:57To find more answers, scientists need to keep watching Jupiter closely in the future.
08:02By observing how the clouds change, they can check if their theory is correct or if it needs some adjustments.
08:08From its massive storms to its colorful belts, Jupiter never fails to amaze us with its cosmic wonders.
08:14It may not have ignited as a star, but it shines brightly as a gas giant, captivating us with its size and beauty.
08:22So keep your curiosity alive and always reach for the stars.
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