Jupiter’s Giant Red Spot how long will it last?
April 18th 2008 03:30
Planet Jupiter : Hubble image
The Red spot is a well known jovian feature that has been around for the last 400 years.
Jupiter’s Giant Red Spot a storm of immense magnitude that has continued for centuries.
The great Red Spot was discovered by Giovanni Cassini in 1665. The spot have undergone changes over the centuries it has even disappeared on occasions but has always returned. Astronomers professional and amateur have monitored the red spot and has been well documented over the last 100 years. The red spot is thought to be a gigantic anti-cyclonic storm cell similar to the storms here on Earth but on a much bigger scale. You can fit three earth size planets in the Jupiter’s red Spot and still have room left over.
Jupiter has many storms scattered all over it’s surface, it is a very volatile planet. The smaller storms appear as white ovals and are usually found in the upper part of Jupiter’s atmosphere. These storm cells are relatively cool however there are other storm cells that are brown in colour these storm cells are more turbulent then their white counterparts. Storms are not limited to earth, Jupiter Venus Mars and Neptune all have massive storms than can cover the whole hemisphere and can cover the whole planet Mars is a good candidate for this. Storms on Mars can rage on for many months and there are pictures of huge dust clouds on occasions covering the whole Martian surface.
One of the reasons that the Great Red Spot on Jupiter has been going so long is that on Jupiter there is no solid surface like continents or mountains to dissipate the storm’s energy. Although some of the storms energy escapes by allowing the cooler air to carry some of the energy in the form of radiation. The storm cell is also fueled by smaller storms cells from below the upper cloud barrier on a continual basis making it difficult to predict how long the storm will last. From time to time new spots have appeared but on a much smaller scale and after a few months they vanish . You can hear the actual storms, late at night when Jupiter is high in the sky using a modest short wave radio receiver. Jupiter’s radio outbursts are in the frequency range 18 to 32 MHz.
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