木星神秘的大紅斑正在縮小

木星神秘的大紅斑正在縮小

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot (GRS) has fascinated researchers for nearly 200 years, having been continuously observed since 1830. A new study suggests that the clouds are shrinking, but not in ways researchers might expect.

木星的大紅斑(GRS)自1830年以來一直被觀測到，近200年來一直吸引著研究人員。一項(xiàng)新的研究表明，大紅斑正在縮小，但不是以研究人員預(yù)期的方式。

The study, published in Nature Physics, suggests that the storm is still as thick as it was 40 years ago, when NASA’s Voyager flew past it in 1979.

這項(xiàng)發(fā)表在《自然物理學(xué)》上的研究表明，這場風(fēng)暴的厚度仍然和40年前一樣，當(dāng)時(shí)美國宇航局的旅行者號在1979年飛過它。

“For the Great Red Spot in particular, our predicted horizontal dimensions agree well with measurements at the cloud level since the Voyager mission in 1979,” the researchers wrote in the study. “We also predict the Great Red Spot’s thickness, which is inaccessible to direct observation. It has remained surprisingly constant despite the observed horizontal shrinking.”

研究人員在研究報(bào)告中寫道：“特別是對于大紅斑，我們預(yù)測的水平維度與1979年旅行者號任務(wù)以來在云層上的測量結(jié)果吻合得很好。”。“我們還預(yù)測了大紅斑的厚度，這是無法直接觀測到的。盡管觀測到水平收縮，但令人驚訝的是，它仍然保持恒定。”

The researchers used numerical simulations and performed experiments with salt-water in a Plexiglas tank to make their observations.

研究人員使用數(shù)值模擬，并在有機(jī)玻璃罐中進(jìn)行鹽水實(shí)驗(yàn)，以進(jìn)行觀察。

“We determine the generic force balance responsible for their three-dimensional pancake-like shape,” the researchers added. “From this, we define scaling laws for their horizontal and vertical aspect ratios as a function of the ambient rotation, stratification and zonal wind velocity.”

研究人員補(bǔ)充說:“我們確定了使其呈現(xiàn)出煎餅樣的三維形狀的一般力平衡。”“由此，我們定義了它們的水平和垂直高寬比的比例規(guī)律，作為環(huán)境旋轉(zhuǎn)、分層和緯向風(fēng)速的函數(shù)。”

There has been some controversy in the scientific community over whether Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is actually shrinking, with recent reports suggesting the clouds are getting smaller.

對于木星的大紅斑是否真的在縮小，科學(xué)界一直存在一些爭議，最近的報(bào)告顯示，云層正在變小。

The new study, which estimated the GRS is approximately 105 miles thick, will await NASA’s Juno observations to further observe how thick the storm is and continue to learn about the planet’s formation and history.

這項(xiàng)新的研究估計(jì)GRS的厚度約為105英里，將等待美國宇航局的“朱諾”號進(jìn)一步觀察風(fēng)暴的厚度，并繼續(xù)了解這顆星球的形成和歷史。

NASA’s Juno probe has been orbiting the celestial giant since 2016 and passes over both of the planet’s polar regions every 53 days.

美國航天局的朱諾號探測器自2016年以來一直圍繞這顆天體巨星運(yùn)行，每53天就要經(jīng)過這顆行星的兩極地區(qū)。

Jupiter continues to be a source of fascination for astronomers. In August 2019, a study suggested it may have had a massive collision with a “still-forming planet” approximately 4.5 billion years ago.

木星仍然是天文學(xué)家的一個(gè)迷。2019年8月，一項(xiàng)研究表明，它可能在大約45億年前與一顆“仍在形成中的行星”發(fā)生了大規(guī)模碰撞。

Two of Jupiter’s 79 known moons, Europa and Io, are also a source of intense interest for researchers. In August 2019, NASA said it would explore Europa, an icy celestial body that could be habitable for humans and support life, as soon as 2023.

木星79顆已知衛(wèi)星中的兩顆，木衛(wèi)二和木衛(wèi)一，也引起了研究人員的極大興趣。2019年8月，美國宇航局表示，最快將于2023年探索木衛(wèi)二，這是一個(gè)冰冷天體，可能適合人類居住并支持生命。