INDIAN ASTRONOMY CLUB

  M.P.E.C. 2023-D20 Issued 2023 February 18, 13:32 UT The Minor Planet Electronic Circulars contain information on unusual minor planets, routine data on comets and natural satellites, and occasional editorial announcements. They are published on behalf of Division F of the International Astronomical Union by the Minor Planet Center, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A. Prepared using the Tamkin Foundation Computer Network MPC@CFA.HARVARD.EDU URL https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/ ISSN 1523-6714 2023 CB4 Observations: K23C04B*!C2023 02 13.35854 10 30 39.69 -36 28 44.9 22.9 GXED020W84 K23C04B !C2023 02 13.36685 10 30 39.72 -36 28 49.1 22.8 GXED020W84 K23C04B !C2023 02 13.36960 10 30 39.74 -36 28 50.4

  The Great Red Spot, a persistent storm in Jupiter's atmosphere, is the most prominent feature of that planet's disk as viewed from Earth. Combined with the fact that Jupiter is a gas giant planet and has no visible surface with discernible landmarks, this means that following the passage of the Great Red Spot is the primary method of observing the planet's rotation. Therefore, it is paramount for any program which generates synthetic images of the planet to accurately place the feature. The U.S. Naval Observatory's "Apparent Disk of a Solar System Object" online web service (http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/diskmap.php) is such a program. The Great Red Spot's planetary latitude is locked between two of Jupiter's striated atmospheric layers at 22 °S. However, its planetary longitude is not constant; over time it migrates east and west along the atmospheric layer boundary it is trapped within. Observing and recording its longitude is made difficult be