5 Facts to Know About Jupiter’s Great Red Spot
Despite all of Jupiter's alluring features, the Great Red Spot is undoubtedly its most well-known feature.
The enormous gas giant's atmosphere is covered in beautiful bands of different colors of clouds. There are numerous little moons on it as well as a few huge moons that might contain life.
The Great Red Spot on Jupiter, however, is its most recognizable feature. For at least as long as astronomers have been able to see it, Jupiter has been home to the Great Red Spot, a massive storm.
Over the years, astronomers have put up a reasonably decent profile of the southern storm, despite the fact that the area still holds a lot of riddles.
So, here in this article, we’re covering some interesting facts about Jupiter’s Great Red Spot.
1. It’s Really Big
The Great Red Spot is approximately 16,350 km across, while the diameter of the Earth is 12,742 km. This storm is therefore 1.3 times as large as our world! According to data gathered by NASA's Juno probe, it is also at least a few hundred kilometers deep.
2. Its Wind Speeds Are Fast
It rotates the other way because this area of Jupiter is an anticyclone. And while the storm has winds near its outskirts that may reach speeds of up to 425 miles per hour (680 km/h), similar to hurricanes on Earth, the winds towards the center are much calmer.
3. It Changes Color
Its reddish color is one of its most appealing features, yet scientists are still unable to explain why it's this color. The main components of Jupiter's dense atmosphere are hydrogen and helium.
But scientists have also found traces of ammonia and water ices. Some believe that arriving cosmic rays hitting the compounds within the Great Red Spot may be responsible for the spot's distinctive tint, even though these factors do not explain the spot's fascinating color.
4. It Keeps Going
In contrast to even the most intense storms on Earth, Jupiter's Great Red Spot doesn't appear to be going anywhere anytime soon. It has been raging for at least 200 years, and perhaps much longer. This is largely due to Jupiter's lack of a flat surface, which prevents its storms from easily dissipating in the presence of undulating terrain.
5. It May Be Shrinking
Researchers have questioned if Jupiter's Great Red Spot might be dying over the past few decades. For instance, the Great Red Spot was far smaller than it had been shown in photographic plates from the past century when the Voyager spacecraft passed by the planet in 1979, according to the data.
Others, however, believe that these assertions are excessively overstated. Some academics speculate that the storm may simply be releasing so-called "flakes" and "blades," which may be completely natural. Many people believe that Jupiter's Great Red Spot will rage for generations to come.
Last Words
All in all, Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is a fascinating scientific phenomenon that still puzzles many scientists to this day.
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