Abstract
A QUESTION which has recently been attracting considerable interest with regard to the greatest of our planets, Jupiter, relates to the determination of the time of rotation deduced from observations of markings on the visible surface of this planet's disc. The difficulty to be contended with here is that the appearance of the markings on the disc is always changing, and further great changes, even in short intervals of time, are noticeable. The chief characteristic features of the disc are the dark belts situated on each side of the equator, resembling to some extent the two belts of trade winds on the earth, which lie on either side of the belt of equatorial calms and rains. More minute scrutiny reveals to us other belts which are sometimes seen in considerable numbers, while their individual structure is by no means simple. These details are for the most part only temporary, and so quickly do changes take place, that the surface of the planet seldom, if ever, appears the same two nights together. Often spots are observed among these belts, which are generally of a more distinct nature than the usual markings; these are for the most part dark, but in some cases they are bright, round, and small, resembling the satellites as they travel across the primary's disc.
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L., W. Jupiter and his Period of Rotation. Nature 53, 558–559 (1896). https://doi.org/10.1038/053558b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/053558b0