Changes in Jupiter

Abstract

DURING the months of October and November the planet Jupiter has presented a spectacle of singular and almost unexampled beauty. The belts on the planet are more than usually numerous, and they display a greater variety of colours than I have ever yet seen ascribed to them. The equatorial belt, which has been for years the brightest part of the planet, is now not nearly so bright as the light belts to the north and south; usually it has been free from markings, now it is often covered with markings, which resemble piled-up cumulus clouds: it has generally been colourless, shining with a silver-grey, or pearly lustre—now it is of a rich deep yellow, greatly resembling the colour of electrotyped gold.