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1440 Daily Digest

Jupiter's Shrinking Spot


Jupiter's Great Red Spot is regularly shrinking, likely due to a decrease in the size of smaller storms sustaining it, according to a new study. By conducting computer simulations on the system, researchers determined such smaller storms have likely prolonged the diminishing vortex's longevity.


The reddish windstorm has been observed swirling in Jupiter's southern hemisphere for over a century (see 101). It is the solar system's largest individual weather pattern, roughly 30% larger in diameter than Earth and reaching 300 miles deep into the gas giant's atmosphere (Earth's hurricanes are 10 miles tall on average). Known as an anticyclone, the storm rotates counterclockwise around a center of high atmospheric pressure, with wind speeds of over 300 mph. Some observers estimate the spot could disappear within 20 years.


The study sheds light on the behavior of so-called "heat domes" common in the western US, a similar type of anticyclone or "block storm" artificially sustained by smaller systems.

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