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Astronomers have proposed that Jupiter's Great Red Spot is heating the upper atmosphere of the planet by hundreds of degrees:
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 further 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 [DOI: 10.1038/nature18940]. 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.
As National Geographic puts it, the Great Red Spot is churning out air "hotter than lava" (≥ 1300°C).
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bob_super on Thursday July 28 2016, @10:41PM
> 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.
They couldn't take three seconds to explain how they dismiss the trivial hypothesis: the storm includes/creates/is_symptomatic_of a giant heat circulation, bringing heat from lower atmospheric layers?
"Hey look, a vortex the size of a planet, and it's really hot above it ... could be gravity waves!"
(Score: 2, Interesting) by khallow on Thursday July 28 2016, @11:24PM
(Score: 2) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Friday July 29 2016, @10:33AM
Indeed. I was under the impression that gravity waves can only be generated by concentrations of mass (lots and lots of mass for any significant amount of gravity) and that, once generated, they propagate outwards, getting gradually weaker but otherwise pretty much impervious to anything in their path. The idea that gravity waves could be generated or influenced by something as mundane as weather seems pretty unlikely.
If I'm wrong, however, it's extremely exciting. That would imply the possibility of artificially generating / manipulating gravity waves using mechanical and/or energetic means. Artificial gravity and reactionless engines anyone?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 30 2016, @03:42AM
Someone else wrote:You are confusing gravitational waves (ripples in spacetime) with gravity waves (ripples in the atmosphere along a pressure boundary perpendicular to the force of gravity)