Scientists may know why Jupiter's stripes change color

One of Jupiter's biggest mysteries is that the visible stripes on its surface change so often. Now, scientists believe they know why.

An image of Jupiter, including Ganymede's shadow, taken by NASA's Juno mission / (Image credit:
NASA)

Most images of Jupiter mainly feature the characteristic stripes of the many gas giants. Besides its giant red dot, one of the most interesting features of the planet's surface is that the lines sometimes move and change, which scientists have yet to explain.

But now, due in part to new information about Jupiter's magnetic field thanks to a new discovery, researchers think they have an explanation for why this happens, according to the University of Leeds.

“If you look at Jupiter through a telescope, you see the stripes that circle the equator along the line of latitude. There are dark and light belts, and if you look a little more closely, you can see the clouds being moved by extremely strong east and west winds. Near the equator the wind blows eastward but when you change the latitude a bit, north or south, it blows westward. And then if you go a little further it goes east again "This alternating pattern of east and west winds is completely different from Earth's weather," Chris Jones said in a press release.