One of Jupiter’s most distinctive features is disappearing.  The planet features two prominent belts of clouds, one called the North Equatorial Belt, and one called the South Equatorial Belt.  Well, out of nowhere, the Jupiter’s South Equatorial Belt has gone missing.  Actually, this isn’t the first time this has happened, but it is one of the most impressive disappearances the belt has ever done, say NASA scientists.

Apparently, the South Equatorial Belt just kind of randomly disappears from time to time, at least according to John Rogers of the British Astronomical Association.  “The SEB fades at irregular intervals, most recently in 1973-75, 1989-90, 1993, 2007, 2010,” said Rogers, the director of the BAA’s Jupiter Section.  “The 2007 fading was terminated rather early, but in the other years, the SEB was almost absent, as at present.”

The more we learn about space, the more it continues to boggle the mind.  No matter how well-observed, some things we still don’t understand.  Jupiter’s randomly disappearing belt is one of them.

Tags: Jupiter, disappearing cloud belt on Jupiter, astronomy, NASA, BAA, Jupiter cloud belt goes missing again, disappearing cloud belt, weird events, before and after picture of Jupiter, anomalies, South Equatorial Belt, weird science

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