Red Spot found on Jupiter
The largest
and most powerful hurricanes ever recorded on Earth spanned over 1,000 miles
across with winds gusting up to around 200 mph.
The Great Red Spot has been swirling wildly over Jupiter’s skies for the
past 150 years—maybe even much longer than that. While people saw a big spot in
Jupiter as early as they started stargazing through telescopes in the 1600s, it
is still unclear whether they were looking at a different storm. Today, scientists know the Great Red Spot is
there and it’s been there for a while, but they still struggle to learn
what causes its swirl of reddish hues.
The Great Red Spot
is not easy, and
it’s mostly Jupiter’s fault. A planet a thousand times as big as Earth, Jupiter
consists mostly of gas. A liquid ocean of hydrogen surrounds its core, and the
atmosphere consists mostly of hydrogen and helium. That translates into no
solid ground like we have on Earth to weaken storms. Also, Jupiter’s clouds
obstruct clear observations of its lower atmosphere. While some studies of
Jupiter have investigated areas in its lower atmosphere, orbiting probes and
telescopes studying the Great Red
Spot can only see clouds scattered high in the atmosphere.
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| JUPITER’S GREAT RED SPOT |
The Great Red Spot is a
persistent zone of high pressure, producing an anticyclone storm on the planet
Jupiter, 22° south of the equator. It has been continuously observed for 187
years, since 1830. ... Storms such as this are not uncommon within the
turbulent atmospheres of gas giants
350 yrs. old swirling
storm: NASA releases 'closest ever' photos of Jupiter's Great Red Spot Gigantic
Storm by Jupiter .Scientists say the GREAT RED SPOT Is a gigantic storm, twice
as wide as Earth and has been churning on Jupiter for at least 150 yrs.
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