The Great Red Spot is one of the most recognizable features in Jupiter’s atmosphere and the entire Solar System. Unidentified Object Falls From Sky in India 00:36. We discovered that the area of the spot cloud is larger than its underlying vortex, the swirling gas that defines it. Did US Capitol Police Officer Take a Selfie With Rioter? But it won't always be there. And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com. Future US, Inc. 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, This content is shared here because the topic may interest Snopes readers; it does not, however, represent the work of Snopes fact-checkers or editors. The iconic Great Red Spot of Jupiter may disappear in the next 20 years, according to a researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California. In the late 1800s, the storm was perhaps as wide as 30 degrees longitude, Orton said. Persisted for centuries, the spot could disappear forever in as little as 20 years, predicted scientists. The Great Red Spot (GRS) is an anti-cyclonic(rotates counter-clockwise) storm that is located 22° south of Jupiter’s equator. I believe that the Great Red Spot is in no danger of disappearing. I have been intrigued by the Great Red Spot since 1979, when I viewed the Voyager images only days after NASA processed them. However, some astronomers believe, to paraphrase Mark Twain, that the reports of its death are greatly exaggerated, or at least premature. Anticyclones on this gas giant act similar to cyclones that we experience on Earth, but they have twice the wind speed. New NASA imagery revealed that the Spot shrunk by 150 miles in the last year. The spot is over 40,000 km in diameter, and could be seen easily with a telescope from your backyard. Did the Moon Briefly ‘Disappear’ 1,000 Years Ago? Amy discusses new research that might hold the key. Typically, small anticyclones are not “digested” immediately, but produce lumps on the spot’s boundary that orbit around it, slowly migrating into the center. The scientist even warned “nothing lasts forever”as the … No, A Nurse in Alabama Did Not Die from COVID-19 Vaccine. New York, Next Up. In the last 10 years, but in the last five months in particular, the press has reported dire warnings that the Great Red Spot of Jupiter is dying. Jupiter’s Great Red Spot Is Not in Danger of Disappearing, NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Christopher Go, first described the Great Red Spot in 1665, career was evolving from astrophysics to fluid dynamics, Great Red Spot is in no danger of disappearing. Image credit: Anthony Wesley. Does Video Show Capitol Police Opening Gates for Rioters? Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! However, neither event is a sign of ill health for the Great Red Spot. Watch: Strong Winds Send Canopy Flying 00:34. However, anticyclones repel cyclones. "In truth, the GRS has been shrinking for a long time," Orton told Business Insider. Jupiter's emblematic feature might disappear in a decade or two. Jupiter 's iconic Great Red Spot is disappearing. Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is iconic, the largest and longest-lasting storm ever seen in the solar system. Jupiter and the cyclonic feature known as the Great Red Spot, lower right, in 2019. It rotates counterclockwise, the opposite direction of hurricanes on Earth. In 1979, when two Voyager spacecraft flew close by Jupiter, images showed that the spot was a red cloud that rotated as part of a huge vortex several times larger than the Earth. When a large anticyclone and smaller cyclone approach each other before repelling, they create a “stagnation” point near the boundary of the anticyclone where the local winds abruptly change direction, going off approximately perpendicular to their original directions. As of April 3, 2017, the GRS spanned the width of 10,159 miles (16,350 kilometers), less than 1.3 times Earth's diameter.The longest storm on Earth lasted 31 days, but Jupiter can sustain longer storms because the gas planet has tens of thousands of miles of atmosphere, and spins much faster than Earth. This suggests Jupiter's Great Red Spot (GRS) has been raging for centuries. Over the past week, amateur astronomers around the world have seen some unusual activity around the solar system's largest and longest-lasting storm. Here's what the president said hours before right-wing extremists breached the Capitol. That works out to more than 35,000 miles — four times the diameter of Earth. Think of two fire hoses aimed at each other so that their streams of water collide – the streams momentarily halt at the point of impact (the stagnation point) and then scatter outward. My colleagues and I believe it will survive for many more years. Space is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. The Disappearing Great Red Spot. Measuring in at 10,159 miles (16,350 kilometers) in width (as of April 3, 2017) Jupiter’s Great Red … Anticyclones appear as bright clouds and so are easily detectable, but cyclones (except at the poles) often have filamentary clouds or no clouds at all. Visit our corporate site. Based on the spot’s interactions with other vortices my Berkeley group found there is no evidence that that vortex itself has changed its size or intensity. How did it form? While the reddish-hued storm is massive, it was once much larger. Please deactivate your ad blocker in order to see our subscription offer. Jupiter’s great red spot, an immense storm on the fifth planet, more significant than the dimension of the Earth, has been raging since approximately 1830. Did Democratic Congressman Add ‘A-Woman’ to Opening Prayer? "Maybe sometime after that the GRM," by which he means the "Great Red Memory.". Such mergers are common; Voyager 1 first observed these and they have subsequently been observed every few months. Data on Jupiter's crimson-colored spot reveals that this shrinking is still occurring. It is not known what causes the Great Red Spot's reddish color. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. In the last 10 years, but in the last five months in particular, the press has reported dire warnings that the Great Red Spot of Jupiter is dying. Our image of the day, Future astronauts could use methane to make rocket fuel on Mars, The Stingray nebula is fading fast, Hubble telescope photos reveal, How satellites are stopping deforestation in Africa. Did David Bowie Say He Supports Fascism and Call Hitler a ‘Rock Star’? Scientists predict Jupiter's Great Red Spot (sometimes called the 'Red Eye') is unraveling and could disappear forever in as little as 20 years. Even though the Great Red Spot is large now, it is slowly shrinking in size. However, some astronomers believe, to … Does Photo Show 2 Women Saving Electoral Votes During Capitol Siege? According to Orton, the storm's vortex has maintained strength because of Jupiter's 300-400 mph (483-640 km/h) jetstreams, but like any storm, it won't go on forever. Neither does theory explain why the twin equatorial belts are brown, nor why one should vanish while the other remains. A (false color) series of images capturing the repeated flaking of red clouds from the GRS in the Spring of 2019. Some reports from May, however, started detailing that it was beginning to diminish. Neither the mergers that created the lumps nor the close encounters with cyclones are unusual by themselves, but it is not that common for them to occur at the same time. May 15, 2014: Jupiter's trademark Great Red Spot -- a swirling anti-cyclonic storm larger than Earth -- has shrunk to its smallest size ever measured. Viral Post ‘How To Fight Covid at Home’ Provides Problematic Advice. (Image: © NASA/JPL/Björn Jónsson/Seán Doran/. Hypotheses supported by laboratory experiments suppose that the color may be caused by chemical products created from the solar ultraviolet irradiation of ammonium hydrosulfide and the organic compound acetylene, which produces a reddish material—likely complex organic compounds called tholins. The Red Spot is one of the most iconic images in astronomy. This article by Philip Marcus is republished here with permission from The Conversation. The beautiful structure of this extraordinary atmospheric intrigued me since my career was evolving from astrophysics to fluid dynamics – the study of how liquids and gases move. It is difficult to determine the relationship between the cloud’s size and the vortex’s size or even how Jovian clouds form and dissipate. Jupiter's south equatorial belt, now missing, crosses the Great Red Spot in a picture taken in 2000 by NASA's Cassini orbiter. NY 10036. The numerical calculations of my Berkeley research group show that the recent observations of cloud shedding can be explained by the collision of undigested red clouds at the edge of the Great Red Spot with stagnation points produced during a close encounter with a cyclone. The Great Red Spot, located in the southern hemisphere, holds title as Jupiter’s largest anticyclone; spanning 12,500 miles wide, it is large enough to swallow Earth two to three times over. Changes in their speeds were often abrupt and seemed to occur for no reason. The Great Red Spot could disappear in the next 2 decades Jupiter's Great Red Spot is an anticyclone that swirls around a center of high atmospheric pressure. How do we know that Jovian cyclones exist when clouds are not visible? Get breaking space news and the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more! This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Follow Doris Elin Salazar on Twitter @salazar_elin. The Great Red Spot has been a fixture of Jupiter’s cloudy visage for centuries and is among the most recognizable features in the solar system. A famed medieval transcript described the Earth’s lunar companion as “wholly gone.”. Will the WhatsApp Message ‘Argentina Is Doing It’ Hack My Phone? But it won’t always be there. Any cloud or undigested lump on the spot that encounters a stagnation point will similarly shatter and flake away in opposite directions. Two decades appearing as flakes and blades York, NY 10036 suggests Jupiter 's emblematic feature disappear. And flake away in opposite directions research that might hold the key ever seen in the image!, space and more amy discusses new research that might hold the.. 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