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	Podcast:		UC Science Today
	Episode:		The most detailed radio map yet of Jupiter
	Category:		Science & Medicine
	Duration:		00:01:03
	Publish Date:		2016-07-11 19:00:00
	Description:		By probing down into Jupiter’s cloudy atmosphere, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have created the most detailed radio map of the largest planet in our Solar System. Astronomer Imke de Pater and her team used an observatory in New Mexico to take the images. "So we were able to produce this map at radio wavelengths because the Very Large Array in New Mexico had undergone upgrades and improved by a factor of 10 in sensitivity." Since the planet rotates every 10 hours, past radio maps would end up smeared. But thanks to the upgrade, this new map shows detailed layers of ammonia gas welling up and sinking down in Jupiter’s atmosphere. "We could see just all kinds of different features. For example, the Great Red Spot, and other little ovals and storm systems on Jupiter." de Pater says the next step is to collect more data and probe deeper into the cloud layers. Researchers hope these findings will help explain the atmospheres of other planets as well.
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