Chapter 7

Question 1

Differential rotation

Answer 1

The tendency for a gaseous sphere, such as a Jovian planet or the Sun, to rotate at a different rate at the equator than at the poles. More generally, a condition where the angular speed varies with location within an object.

Question 2

Great Red Spot

Answer 2

A large high-pressure, long-lived storm system visible in the atmosphere of Jupiter. The Red Spot is roughly twice the size of Earth.

Question 3

Zone

Answer 3

Bright, high-pressure region in the atmosphere of a jovian planet, where gas flows upward.

Question 4

Belts

Answer 4

Dark, low-pressure region in the atmosphere of a jovian planet, where gas flows downward.

Question 5

Zonal flow

Answer 5

Alternating regions of westward and eastward flow, roughly symmetrical about the equator of Jupiter, associated with the belts and zones in the planet’s atmosphere.

Question 6

White ovals

Answer 6

Light-colored region near the Great Red Spot in Jupiter’s atmosphere. Like the red spot, such regions are apparently rotating storm systems.

Question 7

Brown oval

Answer 7

Feature of Jupiter’s atmosphere that appears only at latitudes near 20 degrees N, this structure is a long-lived hole in the clouds that allows us to look down into Jupiter’s lower atmosphere.

Question 8

Great Dark Spot

Answer 8

Prominent storm system in the atmosphere of Neptune observed by Voyager 2, near the equator of the planet. The system was comparable in size to Earth.