Hello all,
(Apologies if you get this message by more than one route):

This message is to ask observers to take good-quality images of the Great Red Spot region for the next 2 weeks, whenever possible between now and April 26, in order to support observations from the Hubble Space Telescope.

We recently reported that the GRS has not only shrunk significantly in the past year, but it has also shortened its rotation period and possibly increased its wind speeds. These changes could be due to the major outbreak of dark spots in the STBn jet which are being torn apart at the GRS. To investigate further, Dr Amy Simon-Miller, with Dr Glenn Orton & Dr Mike Wong & Dr Imke de Pater, have arranged for the Hubble Space Telescope to image the GRS region on Monday April 21 at approx. 09:30 and 19:30 UT.

To provide a longer context for these observations, tracking the STBn jet spots and possibly detecting the GRS circulation over a longer interval, it will be important to get good-quality amateur images of the region from now until April 26, and especially on every rotation next weekend (April 18-22). So if you can take images, please do so at every opportunity, even if the conditions are not as good as you would usually want.

Best wishes,

John

【日本語訳：伊賀祐一 (Yuichi Iga)】