Scientist James is spot on with planetary discoveries
A scientist from our region is working his way around the solar system, rewriting science as he goes.
Last year Dr James O'Donoghue led a team that discovered it is raining on Saturn.
Today, his team at Nasa has turned its attention to Jupiter, revealing a mysterious hot area in the planet's upper atmosphere is caused by the planet's famous Great Red Spot, a massive storm system three times wider than the Earth.
Now working for the US space agency in Boston, Dr O'Donaghue was born in Newtown and has family in Shrewsbury.
He and his fellow scientists made the discovery after observing Jupiter's infra-red light emissions, which allowed them to make temperature measurements.
At high altitude, some 500 miles above the planet's visible cloud tops, temperatures were much greater than would be expected as a result of warming by the distant sun.
Dr O'Donoghue said: "We could see almost immediately that our maximum temperatures at high altitudes were above the Great Red Spot far below – we had to discover if it was a weird coincidence, or a major clue".
The Great Red Spot (GRS) was first officially recorded in 1831 but may have been the same "permanent spot" identified by Italian astronomer Giovanni Cassini in 1665.
It consists of a hurricane-like system of gases swirling at speeds of up to 425mph. Because of its size, the winds can take six days to complete one revolution.
Writing in the journal Nature, the scientists concluded that the GRS produces "acoustic waves" of energy – thunder claps that vibrate in the direction of their travel – that heat the upper atmosphere.
A similar effect on a much smaller scale has been observed over the Andes mountains.
Dr O'Donoghue helps lead the Nasa scientists.
Last year the team discovered the equivalent of one Olympic-sized swimming pool of water is falling on Saturn every day, helping to create its rings.
Speaking last year, Dr O'Donaghue's grandmother Rona, who lives in Shrewsbury, said his family were delighted with the discoveries he has made.
She said: "We are very proud of James. He has worked extremely hard to realise his dream, he has always had a keen interest in science and astronomy."
After going to school at Maesyrhandir Primary and Newtown High School, Dr O'Donaghue studied for a physics degree at Aberystwyth, working at Morrison's supermarket to earn money towards his studies.
He completed his doctorate at Leicester University and now works as a post-doctoral researcher.
