In the last images I posted from July 1st I noticed a stark difference in the colors of Jupiter's bands from what I remembered last year. I went on the ALPO Japan website and started looking at Jupiter images, starting late 2016. What I found was that Jupiter's bands started noticeably changing colors around March or April of this year.

I don't just image, I also like to observe visually. The last few times I have observed the change in both my 85mm APO and 150mm Mak. With the binoviewer the changes stand out well, not just the darkening, but the observable hues, too. I went on Cloudy Nights to both the Sketching and Observing forums. Some posters there have also reported the recent changes.

I'm posting images I have taken that show this progression. My images are not "over cooked", like so many I see on line, so are a decent representation of what is happening on the planet. I think it's just neat as all hell that this planet has such dynamics over a few months.

Ed D

Jupiter - April 26, 2017: NEB and SEB are dark, but equatorial zone is white.


Jupiter - April 21, 2018: Notice change in color starting in equatorial zone.


Jupiter - June 4, 2018: Notice how the equatorial region is getting progressively darker and the white is but a thin line.

Jupiter - June 25, 2018: The progression of change continues subtly.



Jupiter - July 1, 2018: The change is now much more abrupt, not just in the equatorial area, but planet wide.