What is the Great Red Spot on Jupiter?

Every planet has its own characteristics. For example, the surface of the earth is covered by more than 70% oceans. We think it is blue, and Mars has its iconic red color. Saturn has Saturn rings. What about Jupiter? What is the Great Red Spot on Jupiter? What is the Great Red Spot on Jupiter?

Q: What is the Great Red Spot on Jupiter?

Answer: Jupiter's Great Red Spot is actually a big storm.

The Eye of Jupiter: The Great Red Spot

Compared with Jupiter's Great Red Spot, the storms on the earth are insignificant. The biggest and strongest storm in the history of the earth is a hurricane with a wind speed of 321609.3 km/h. The scope of the Great Red Spot storm is equivalent to 1.3 times that of the earth, and the highest wind speed can reach 643.74 km per hour.

The roaring storm on Jupiter has existed for at least 150 years, and may even exist for 400 years or even longer. In contrast, 1994 Hurricane John, the biggest storm on earth, lasted only 3 1 day.

The Great Red Spot is a continuous high pressure area in Jupiter's atmosphere, which produced an anticyclone storm, which is the largest storm in the solar system, located at 22 degrees south of Jupiter's equator. Continuous observation started from 1830, and the early observation of 1665-17 13 was also considered as the same great red spot storm. If so, the Great Red Spot has existed for at least 350 years.

However, despite its long life, the Great Red Spot has been shrinking steadily. 1late 9th century. The Great Red Spot is about four times the size of the earth. By 1979, when Voyager 2 flew over Jupiter, the area contracted by the big storm was only twice that of the earth.

Today, the volume of the Great Red Spot is only 1.3 times that of the earth. Some scientists think it is still shrinking, and maybe the younger generation will witness its disappearance.

With the help of data and photos from NASA's Juno spacecraft, scientists continue to study Jupiter and the Great Red Spot today. Some scientists are still trying to find out why the storm is red. The most popular theory today is that the cosmic rays and ultraviolet rays of the sun react with ammonia hydrogen sulfide in Jupiter's atmosphere, making the Great Red Spot turn red.

Introduction to Jupiter

Astronomers have known Jupiter since ancient times. People named it Jupiter, the Roman god. As the fifth closest planet to the sun, Jupiter is also the largest planet in the solar system. The mass of this giant planet is only one thousandth of that of the sun, but its mass is 2.5 times that of other planets in the solar system combined. Jupiter and Saturn are both gas planets, and the other two giant planets Uranus and Neptune are ice giants.

Jupiter's apparent magnitude can reach -2.94, and its reflected light is bright enough to cast a shadow on objects, making Jupiter the third brightest natural celestial body in the night sky besides Venus and the moon.