Jupiter Rejuvenated
First Pluto lost its status as
a planet, being downgraded to a planetoid. Now Jupiter has lost a stripe. In effect it's been busted down a rank. Nature seems to have stripped a stripe. Yes, it's still the largest planet in our solar system but it is not its old self. Is it a new self?
Jupiter normally has 8 belts (I usually try not to exceed 4 belts a night) and a large spot, called quite naturally, the Great Spot. Jupiter was for the Romans the King of the Gods, having inherited his name and rank from Zeus-Pitar (Zeus the Father and the etymological antecedent of our western Deus Pater).
The stripe, called the South Equatorial Belt, disappeared while Jupiter was blocked from our view when it passed the other side of the sun. Scientists speculate about the cause of its disappearance and wonder if it will some day reappear. I have no idea but I do have a theory.
Old gods, like old guys, can get a bit vain, as the veins starts showing and parts start drooping and dropping. They may vainly go chasing after the surgical Fountain of Youth. I think that's exactly what Jupiter did when we were unable to see. Like so many of my contemporaries who go to Costa Rica or Brazil, like so many of my fellow high school friends did over Spring vacation our junior year, I think Jupiter disappeared in order to have some work done. And he really does look so bright, smooth and radiant south of his equator--something to be envious of at his age. Now, if only he could get rid of that Great Spot. I can hear the vain old god crying, "Out! Out! Damn spot!"
©2010 Jonathan Dobrer
www.Dobrer.com
Leave a comment