If you’ve ever wanted to see Jupiter’s famous storm, you’re in luck
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It’s the biggest storm in the solar system, and now it doesn’t seem so far away.
NASA’s Juno spacecraft passed around 9000 kilometers over the reddish clouds of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot. This is the closest look we’ve ever gotten of the storm, and the pictures didn’t disappoint.
With wind speeds well over 600 kilometers per hour, the Spot’s power is unparalleled. The Juno spacecraft got to Jupiter in 2016, after a five-year voyage. The craft has since been studying and photographing the massive planet. It’s focus is on the planet’s magnetic field and atmosphere in an attempt to study the planet’s formation and structure.
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Although the spot has been visible for more than 150 years, this is the first time we’ve been able to get close enough to photograph it in detail. The storm, which is about 16,000 kilometers wide, seems to have persisted for over a century.
Scientists are hopeful that by focusing on the storm’s clouds and makeup, they will be able to better understand how the storm has not dissipated.
Additional processing of the photographs will likely still be needed for researchers to get a better idea of the storm’s structure and patterns.
The storm has morphed from an oval into a circle over the last several decades, which poses an important questions for scientists: Is the storm dissipating after 200 years of study? Or is it simply evolving?
No matter the answer, one thing is clear: We’re about to learn a lot more about our solar system’s most sinister storm.
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