Posted on 05/17/2014 5:30:04 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Explanation: Gas giant Jupiter is the solar system's largest world with about 320 times the mass of planet Earth. It's also known for a giant swirling storm system, the Great Red Spot, featured in this sharp Hubble image from April 21. Nestled between Jupiter-girdling cloud bands, the Great Red Spot itself could still easily swallow Earth, but lately it has been shrinking. The most recent Hubble observations measure the spot to be about 10,250 miles (16,500 kilometers) across. That's the smallest ever measured by Hubble and particularly dramatic when compared to 14,500 miles measured by the Voyager 1 and 2 flybys in 1979, and historic telescopic observations from the 1800s indicating a width of about 25,500 miles on its long axis. Current indications are that the rate of shrinking is increasing for the long-lived Great Red Spot.
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
[Credit: NASA, ESA, and Amy Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center) et al.]
Another victim of our lack of response to global warming
Climate change
Wonder if its contracting and strengthening like a hurricane?
Juno is due to arrive at Jupiter in 2016.
Weird. the surrounding clouds make the spot look like a
frightened eye, as if it knows its time is coming to an end.
I wonder what Jupiter looks like beneath the clouds. I believe I read somewhere that it has about an Earth sized solid core, which is surrounded by a liquid metal of some kind(don’t recall exactly).
Please add me to your ping list. I always enjoy looking at the great pic’s in your posts.
Thanks for your efforts.
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