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Is Jupiter's lost stripe making a comeback?

17 November 2010

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THERE’S no privacy for Jupiter. Watchful amateur astronomers have spotted a new blemish on the giant planet’s face that may herald the return of a vanished stripe.

In April, the south equatorial belt (SEB), one of Jupiter’s two prominent brown bands, disappeared (see image, right). One explanation was that white ammonia clouds at high altitude might have covered it up.

Now images taken on 9 November by Christopher Go in the Philippines, and others, reveal a bright white spot where the SEB used to lie.…

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