Jupiter’s Great Red Spot may be dying, and could disappear within our lifetimes . Please deactivate your ad blocker in order to see our subscription offer. 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. Were Pro-Trump Mobs Storming the Capitol on Jan. 6 Actually Antifa? Jupiter's Great Red Spot Could Disappear Soon 00:37. This suggests Jupiter's Great Red Spot (GRS) has been raging for centuries. Jupiter’s Great Red Spot: A Swirling Mystery Scientists had even make some assumptions that it might disappear entirely over two decades. In a recent story, Business Insider spoke with Glenn Orton, a lead Juno mission team member and planetary scientist at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), about the giant storm's fate. Did David Bowie Say He Supports Fascism and Call Hitler a ‘Rock Star’? According to observations taken in the 1800s, the Great Red Spot was once about four times the diameter of Earth. It’s so big that it could easily engulf our entire planet. "Maybe sometime after that the GRM," by which he means the "Great Red Memory.". Just because a photo is real doesn't mean its caption is. How did it form? Philip Marcus, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley. 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. Please refresh the page and try again. "In truth, the GRS has been shrinking for a long time," Orton told Business Insider. I believe that the Great Red Spot is in no danger of disappearing. Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! Space is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. (Image credit: NASA/SwRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstädt/Seán Doran/. Such mergers are common; Voyager 1 first observed these and they have subsequently been observed every few months. Future US, Inc. 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, I believe that the shedding of clouds from the spot as “flakes” and “blades” observed in 2019 was due to two simultaneous events: undigested lumps of merged anticyclones traveling along the spot’s boundary and a close encounter with one or more “unobservable” cyclones. 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. The scientist even warned “nothing lasts forever”as the … Get breaking space news and the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more! Pieces of the red cloud scatter outward from the stagnation point, appearing as flakes and blades. Indeed, Jupiter's atmosphere is a mysterious place which would benefit from exploration. 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. Was a Noose Hung Across from the US Capitol? Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, a gigantic storm more than twice the size of the Earth, has persisted for centuries. But now scientists predict it could disappear forever in as little as 20 years. 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. Any cloud or undigested lump on the spot that encounters a stagnation point will similarly shatter and flake away in opposite directions. You will receive a verification email shortly. The high altitude of the compounds may also contribute to the coloring of the Great Red Spot. Jupiter 's iconic Great Red Spot is disappearing. Jupiter’s Great Red Spot Isn’t Disappearing. One of Jupiter's most recognisable features, the Great Red Spot, is getting smaller. Some reports from May, however, started detailing that it was beginning to diminish. New York, The spot is over 40,000 km in diameter, and could be seen easily with a telescope from your backyard. The Great Red Spot has been there for a while, but scientists still struggle identify what causes its swirl of reddish hues. 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. Did Olive Garden Revoke Hannity’s Pasta Pass After Capitol Riot? Jupiter's Great Red Spot is dying. Amy discusses new research that might hold the key. Jupiter's emblematic feature might disappear in a decade or two. One of the solar system’s most iconic landmarks is about to vanish. Jupiter's south equatorial belt, now missing, crosses the Great Red Spot in a picture taken in 2000 by NASA's Cassini orbiter. 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. 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. Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is iconic, the largest and longest-lasting storm ever seen in the solar system. 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. Does Photo Show 2 Women Saving Electoral Votes During Capitol Siege? Jupiter and the cyclonic feature known as the Great Red Spot, lower right, in 2019. Did ‘The Simpsons’ Predict Pro-Trump Horned Rioter Jake Angeli? Jupiter’s atmosphere contains vortices besides the Great Red Spot, some of which are useful for monitoring its health. A known white nationalist recorded the clip that went viral amid the chaos of the... Did Trump Tell Supporters to Storm US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021? For more than a century astronomers documented the motions of cloud-covered anticyclones as they slowly drifted across Jupiter. (Image: © NASA/JPL/Björn Jónsson/Seán Doran/. Did the Moon Briefly ‘Disappear’ 1,000 Years Ago? 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. 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. This article by Philip Marcus is republished here with permission from The Conversation. An enhanced image of Jupiter's Great Red Spot, as seen by NASA's Voyager 2 probe on July 7, 1979. Image source: NASA/JPL. The flake then breaks off from the GRS, but a new flake starts to detach in the fifth image. By analyzing the cloud images with computer models that incorporate the physics of how fluids move, my research group at Berkeley was able to determine the area of the spot. Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com. 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. That works out to more than 35,000 miles — four times the diameter of Earth. The Red Spot is one of the most iconic images in astronomy. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 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. 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. By Mike Wehner @MikeWehner. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. There was a problem. 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. NY 10036. Image credit: Anthony Wesley. 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. Persisted for centuries, the spot could disappear forever in as little as 20 years, predicted scientists. Does Video Show Capitol Police Opening Gates for Rioters? The question then becomes: Does a decrease in the area of the cloud mean that the vortex itself is shrinking? No, A Nurse in Alabama Did Not Die from COVID-19 Vaccine. When the nuclear-powered spacecraft Voyager 2 flew by Jupiter in 1979, however, the storm had shrunk to a bit more twice the width of our own planet. It rotates counterclockwise, the opposite direction of hurricanes on Earth. And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com. The Great Red Spot is one of the most recognizable features in Jupiter’s atmosphere and the entire Solar System. Space Chat with Space.com: Tune in Fridays for science, space and more! My colleagues and I believe it will survive for many more years. In a report from Space.com, astronomers from around the world say they’ve documented an uptick in what they describe as ‘blades’ … 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. © NASA planetary scientist Glenn Orton said the Great Red Spot has been dying since the 1800s. Measuring in at 10,159 miles (16,350 kilometers) in width (as of April 3, 2017) Jupiter’s Great Red … Even though the Great Red Spot is large now, it is slowly shrinking in size. 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. Over the past week, amateur astronomers around the world have seen some unusual activity around the solar system's largest and longest-lasting storm. New NASA imagery revealed that the Spot shrunk by 150 miles in the last year. 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. February … The massive storm — larger than Earth itself — was first spotted in 1830, and observations from the 1600s also revealed a giant spot on Jupiter's surface that may have been the same storm system. Follow Doris Elin Salazar on Twitter @salazar_elin. The Great Red Spot (GRS) is an anti-cyclonic(rotates counter-clockwise) storm that is located 22° south of Jupiter’s equator. Next Up. However, by assuming that these observable vortices interact with cloud-free (and unobservable) cyclones, we can explain the abrupt changes. This material may not be reproduced without permission. What better way to begin exploring the fundamental physics and math of fluid dynamics than to study the Great Red Spot? Here's what the president said hours before right-wing extremists breached the Capitol. July 26, 2019 By Joe Bergeron Filed Under: Solar System. It is not known what causes the Great Red Spot's reddish color. [Jupiter's Great Red Spot in Photos]. 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. It has been around for at least hundreds of years, but is it now nearing its end? 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. 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 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. "The GRS will in a decade or two become the GRC (Great Red Circle)," Orton said. How do we know that Jovian cyclones exist when clouds are not visible? Did Democratic Congressman Add ‘A-Woman’ to Opening Prayer? Robert Hooke, an early British physicist who discovered cells, first described the Great Red Spot in 1665. 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 Disappearing Great Red Spot. We discovered that the area of the spot cloud is larger than its underlying vortex, the swirling gas that defines it. But it won’t always be there. No one knows, for instance, why the Great Red Spot is red—or what has sustained the raging storm for so many years. A (false color) series of images capturing the repeated flaking of red clouds from the GRS in the Spring of 2019. Changes in their speeds were often abrupt and seemed to occur for no reason. Thank you for signing up to Space. Scientists predict Jupiter's Great Red Spot (sometimes called the 'Red Eye') is unraveling and could disappear forever in as little as 20 years. Visit our corporate site. Some, like this spot, are anticyclones that rotate in the opposite direction of the planet’s spin; others are cyclones that rotate in the same direction as the planet’s spin. While the reddish-hued storm is massive, it was once much larger. New dissipative activity is shrinking and may be destabilizing this famous feature in Jupiter’s atmosphere. Jupiter’s Great Red Spot might disappear in the next 20 years If you’ve seen any picture of Jupiter you’ve no doubt noticed the massive red oval-shaped spot on its surface. 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. 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. NASA revealed today that the iconic Great Red Spot on Jupiter has shrunk to its smallest size ever – and astronomers have no idea why. In the earliest image, the flaking is predominant on the east side of the giant red vortex. The Great Red Spot (GRS) is a giant anticyclonic storm rotating counterclockwise in the southern hemisphere of the planet (22 degrees south of Jupiter’s equator). I have been intrigued by the Great Red Spot since 1979, when I viewed the Voyager images only days after NASA processed them. Will the WhatsApp Message ‘Argentina Is Doing It’ Hack My Phone? Recent images showed more cloud shrinkage, leading to headlines that the spot could die within 20 years. However, some astronomers believe, to … Anticyclones on this gas giant act similar to cyclones that we experience on Earth, but they have twice the wind speed. 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. Original article on Space.com. 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. Why does Jupiter's great red spot exist? Viral Post ‘How To Fight Covid at Home’ Provides Problematic Advice. A famed medieval transcript described the Earth’s lunar companion as “wholly gone.”. Anticyclones merge with each other. Neither does theory explain why the twin equatorial belts are brown, nor why one should vanish while the other remains. The Great Red Spot is a huge storm in Jupiter's atmosphere and was first spotted 300 years ago.. However, some astronomers believe, to … In spring 2019, when the “flaking” was observed, the Great Red Spot was also observed to merge with a series of small clouds (likely small anticyclones) on its northwest side. However, some astronomers believe, to paraphrase Mark Twain, that the reports of its death are greatly exaggerated, or at least premature. Over the past couple decades, Jupiter's Great Red Spot has gotten visibly smaller. 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. Unidentified Object Falls From Sky in India 00:36. An illustration comparing the size of Jupiter's Great Red Spot to that of Earth. Therefore, to understand the health of the spot, planetary scientists need to study the health of its vortex and not its cloud; the cloud’s shrinkage is not a harbinger of death. However, anticyclones repel cyclones. In the late 1800s, the storm was perhaps as wide as 30 degrees longitude, Orton said. In spring 2019, astronomers reported that it was “unraveling,” and shedding large “blades” and “flakes” of red clouds. Watch: Strong Winds Send Canopy Flying 00:34. The Great Red Spot of Jupiter as … Did US Capitol Police Officer Take a Selfie With Rioter? However, neither event is a sign of ill health for the Great Red Spot. Data on Jupiter's crimson-colored spot reveals that this shrinking is still occurring. Concerns for the Great Red Spot’s “health” arose when astronomers realized that the cloud’s area in 1979 was only half of its size in the 1800s, as determined from old photographic plates. Read the original article. Pictures from space! But it won't always be there. 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