Scientist say Jupiter storm heating up parts of atmosphere

BERLIN – Astronomers say a massive hurricane on Jupiter could be heating up parts of the gas giant’s upper atmosphere.

The storm — known as the Great Red Spot — is more than twice the size of Earth and has been churning for over a century.

Scientists from the United States and Britain say heat from the sun doesn’t explain why parts of Jupiter’s atmosphere are hundreds of degrees hotter than elsewhere on the planet.

The phenomenon was discovered more than 40 years ago and dubbed the giant-planet “energy crisis.”

In a paper published online Wednesday by the journal Nature, the researchers concluded that the upper atmosphere is probably being blasted from below with sound or gravity waves.

The study relied on observations made using NASA’s Hawaii-based Infrared Telescope Facility.