Storms in the Solar System: The Great Red Spot of Jupiter! (credit: NASA)

Discussion: Earth experiences storms every day, whether it’s thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, or blizzards.  But Earth isn’t alone in this regard, based on the fact that other planets in our solar system experience storms as well.  In particular, Jupiter has arguably the most comprehensively planetary atmospheric circulation which has been referred to by scientists as “The Great Red Spot.”  The Great Red Spot is probably the best example of an extra-terrestrial anticyclonic circulation, which rotates counterclockwise; similar to the atmospheric flow associated anticyclonic circulations in Earth’s Northern Hemisphere.

Just as its name suggests, The Great Red Spot is an enormous red-colored, oval-shaped circulation that tracks persistently across Jupiter.  Just how large is this storm, you might ask? The answer, is large enough to contain between two and three Earth sized planets.  Not only is this circulation’s incredibly large, it also moves incredibly fast, based on its consistent ability to speed around Jupiter every six days. Bearing in mind that one thousand Earth-sized planets could fit within Jupiter, making this circulation’s period of revolution that much more impressive.  This is due to Jupiter’s rapid rotation: 22,000 Discussion mph compared to Earth’s 1,000 mph.  In addition, the Great Red Spot is comprised of wind speeds of up to 400 mph, (twice as fast as the winds associated with the strongest hurricanes ever recorded on Earth).

Moreover this circulation is also incredibly long-lived, over 150 years old. This storm is so massive and so easily identified that its existence was documented before probes and satellites came into existence.  Due to this it is believed that the Great Red Spot has existed and been observed for over 300 years; some theorize it may be a permanent feature of the planet, though this has yet to be confirmed. Regardless, the Great Red Spot doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon and should continue to be a great area of scientific research.


To learn more about other interesting space weather-based events, be sure to click here!

@Meteorologist Noah Hardy