科学家称，木星的大红斑终究没有消失

科学家称，木星的大红斑终究没有消失

Having been continuously observed since 1830, Jupiter’s Great Red Spot (GRS) has fascinated researchers. But despite recent reports that the clouds involved are shrinking, the storm continues to be exceptionally strong, according to a new study.

自从1830年以来，人们就一直在观测木星上的大红斑(GRS)，研究人员对此十分着迷。但是，根据一项新的研究，尽管最近有报道称，风暴所涉及的云层正在缩小，但风暴仍然异常强劲。

Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley spoke at a conference held by the American Physical Society’s Division of Fluid Dynamics and said there is no evidence the vortex that causes cloud formation has changed in size or strength.

加州大学伯克利分校的研究人员在美国物理学会流体动力学分会举行的一次会议上发表了讲话，他们说，没有证据表明导致云层形成的涡流的大小和强度发生了变化。

“I don’t think its fortunes were ever bad,” University of California, Berkely professor Philip Marcus said in a statement.

加州大学伯克利分校教授菲利普·马库斯(Philip Marcus)在一份声明中说:“我不认为它的运气有多糟。”

“It’s more like Mark Twain’s comment: The reports about its death have been greatly exaggerated.”

“这更像是马克·吐温的评论:关于它死亡的报道被大大夸大了。”

Earlier this year, amateur astronomers said they spotted “blades” and “flakes” spinning off from the Great Red Spot, causing speculation that the system itself was getting smaller.

今年早些时候，业余天文学家说他们发现了从大红斑上脱落的“叶片”和“薄片”，这引起了人们对该系统本身正在变小的猜测。

Since astronomers are not actually able to see the storm itself and only the clouds, Marcus noted that the “flakes” could be due to storms interacting, rather than a weakening of the storm itself.

由于天文学家实际上无法看到风暴本身，只能看到云，所以Marcus指出，“雪花”可能是风暴相互作用的结果，而不是风暴本身的减弱。

“The loss of undigested clouds from the GRS through encounters with stagnation points does not signify the demise of the GRS,” he added.

他补充说:“由于遇到停滞点，GRS中未消化的云消失了，但这并不意味着GRS的消亡。”

“The proximity of the stagnation points to the GRS during May and June does not signify its demise. The creation of little vortices to the east, northeast of the GRS during the spring of 2019 and their subsequent merging with the GRS does not signify its demise.”

“在5月和6月期间，接近停滞点并不意味着它的消亡。2019年春天在GRS东北方的小漩涡的形成以及随后与GRS的合并并不意味着它的消亡。”

In September, astronomers observed storms made of ammonia and water vapor that are disrupting the planet’s belts.

今年9月，天文学家观测到由氨和水蒸气组成的风暴扰乱了地球的环带。

Jupiter continues to be a source of fascination for astronomers, with NASA’s Juno probe continuously orbiting the celestial giant since 2016. In August, a study suggested it may have had a massive collision with a “still-forming planet” approximately 4.5 billion years ago.

自2016年以来，美国国家航空航天局(NASA)的“朱诺”(Juno)探测器就一直在围绕木星轨道运行。今年8月，一项研究表明，它可能在大约45亿年前与一颗“仍在形成的行星”发生了大规模碰撞。

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

木星已知的79颗卫星中的两颗，木卫二和木卫一，也引起了研究人员极大的兴趣。今年8月，美国国家航空航天局(NASA)表示，最早将于2023年探索木卫二。木卫二是一个冰冷的天体，可能适合人类居住并支持生命。

A massive volcano on Io, Loki Patera, a 125-mile-wide lava lake, is getting ready to erupt imminently, researchers said in September.

今年9月，研究人员称，位于木卫一的一个名为Loki Patera的125英里宽的熔岩湖即将喷发。