Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-10-15
J UPITER's&RED SPOT
NO SATISFACTORY EXPLANATION
FOR IT'S PRESENCE.
A. Characteristic Feature Of the Great
Planet-The Belts Of
Color. q

From the Philadelphia Record
The characteristic feature Of the planet
Jupiter, now the chief ornament of the
southern evening sky, Is, as Is we'll known,
a system of belts that girile It In greater
or less number, particularly In the equator
region, and which are Of various breadths
and of different hues and intensity OF color
the prevailing hue of the dark belts being
light salmon or tan, while the darkest
streaks are of a decided brown. The mo-
notony of this belted surface Is broken by
the frequent appearance Of spots, dark or
bright, which sometimes remain visible
with but little change for several months,
and occasionally persist for more than an
entire year.
In 1879 a large spot made it's appearance
in the planets southern hemisphere, which
soon became so remarkable as to attract
the general attention of astronomers end 10
be the subject of not a little speculation.
OF pale violet hue when first seen, it had
in the following year assumed aeep brick
red color, and was by far the mos. conspic-
uous feature of the planets surface. 1t was
situated just below the dark equatorial belt
or above, as the planet appears in an m
verting telescope. In form 1t was an elon-
gated oval, having length about equal to
one-third of the planets diameter and
breadth about one-fourth as great Its
miles.
Changes Its Hue.
For two ar three years the great red
spot" as 1t came to be called. remained
with but very little change either In form
or color But In 1884 1t had faded consid-
erably, and in the following year it had
become pinkish oval ring. its center be-
ing occupied by whitish spot and such
has been IT'S general description ever since.
In some years, however, 1t has been SO
very faint that several observers have an
nounced its entire disappearance. In sue
ceeding years 1t has become more notice.
able. and this year, the twenty fourth year
of its existence. it Is an object easily per-
ceiyed even with a small telescope.
The spot is still a ring surrounding a
light area The color of this ring. however,
instead of being pinkish. is the same as that
of the dark equatorial belt in which the
spot Is now fairly imbedded, though It's
distance from the planets equator is the
same as formerly. The central area is of
pearl-white color different from that Of
the bright central belt which Is yellowish
white.
Half Earth, Half Sun.
No satisfao Glory explanation of this very
remarkable object has ever been given.
The belts are doubtless caused by clouds
which float in the planets atmosphere, eff
fectually concealing its surface, which may
be hundreds of miles below, and these belts,
while they never lose their striking parallel
arrangement are continually, though slow
w. changing in their details. But this spot
unchanging in form, has no appearance of
being a cloud. 1t is the general opinion of
astronomers now that'Jupiter is a molten
and red-hot body, in a condition interme-
date between an earth and sun. Is this
remarkable spot an enormous piece of Stag,
floating on the molten planet. or Is 1t re-
gion on the planet that s-for some reasons
hotter than the rest and dissipates with Its
suppositions has been Shftade as afrording a
possible explanation Of this unique pre-
nomenon. One Circumstance which compli-
Gates the case is that the spot is not a fix
ture, but drifts slowly and at a variable
rate. its rotation period being trife longer
than that Of the planet itself