Jupiter's Great Red Spot hides roots 200 miles deep in its atmosphere
In short: For centuries, we viewed Jupiter's iconic storm as a surface phenomenon—a crimson swirl of clouds. But new data from NASA's Juno spacecraft reveals that the Great Red Spot is far more than a skin-deep weather event; it is a massive atmospheric structure with deep, warm roots.
The Great Red Spot (GRS) is an anticyclone in Jupiter's southern hemisphere characterized by counterclockwise winds exceeding 400 mph. While Earth's most powerful hurricanes span about 1,000 miles with gusts of 200 mph, the GRS dwarfs these, currently measuring approximately 1.3 times the width of Earth (about 10,000 miles wide as of April 3, 2017). Despite its fame, the storm's longevity is debated; while observed since at least 1664 by Robert Hooke, some records suggest it may have existed for over 350 years. Recent observations from the Hubble Space Telescope indicate a period of significant transformation. Between 2008 and 2020, wind speeds at the storm's edges increased by 8%, while its shape shifted from an oval to a circle.
Additionally, the feature is contracting; while Voyager craft recorded a size double that of Earth's diameter during 1979, it currently accommodates slightly more than one planet of similar scale. The breakthrough came via Juno’s Microwave Radiometer (MWR), which can peer through thick clouds of ammonia and water. The data show that the storm's roots penetrate about 200 miles into the atmosphere—roughly 50 to 100 times deeper than Earth's oceans. Crucially, these roots are warmer at the base than at the top. This temperature gradient provides the engine for the storm's ferocious surface winds. By studying these mechanics, scientists hope to better understand both Earth's weather and the atmospheres of distant extrasolar planets.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: NASA Finally Shows What's Inside Jupiter's Great Red Spot
- Also: NASA's Juno Probes the Depths of Jupiter's Great Red Spot - NASA Science
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