Ammonia ice crystals brighten Jupiter’s white cloud zones
The bright zones girdling Jupiter get much of their whiteness from ammonia ice crystals condensing high in the cold upper troposphere, reflecting sunlight like fresh snow.
Where air rises, ammonia freezes into those pale decks; where it sinks in the belts, warmer, deeper clouds tinted by sulfur and phosphorus chemistry show through darker. Spectroscopy ties the white haze directly to NH₃ ice.
Color is chemistry at altitude. Jupiter’s white stripes are frozen ammonia weather written across an entire giant.
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