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The Great Red Spot is a giant storm on Jupiter that has been around for centuries. It is so large that it could fit three Earths inside of it. But what planet does this spot call home?
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Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass one-thousandth that of the Sun, but two-and-a-half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined. Jupiter has the shortest day of all the planets, with a day only 10 hours long.
The Great Red Spot
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass one-thousandth that of the Sun, but two-and-a-half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined. Jupiter has 78 satellites. The four largest, Ganymede, Callisto, Io, and Europa, show similarities to terrestrial planets, such as volcanoes and internal heat sources. Ganymede, the largest satellite in the Solar System, has a diameter greater than Mercury’s.
Jupiter was known to astronomers of antiquity. The Romans named it after their god Jupiter. When viewed from Earth, Jupiter can be bright enough for its reflectance to cast shadows, and is on average the third-brightest object in the night sky after Venus and the Moon. Through most telescopes it appears as a disk with castellated polar caps at its north and south poles.
Jupiter is primarily composed of hydrogen with a quarter of its mass being helium; it may also have a rocky core of heavier elements. Because of its rapid rotation, Jupiter’s shape is that of an oblate spheroid; that is, it has a slightly flattened spherical shape. The outer atmosphere is visibly segregated into several bands at different latitudes called tropics which are caused by an atmospheric phenomenon known as jet streams where warm air rises faster near Jupiter’s equator than it does at higher latitudes thereby creating strong eastwardly flowing wind currents at about 60 kilometers per hour near the equator but almost no winds at all just above or below this region.[24][25][26] Another result of this differential heating is that often two contrasted colors will be seen on Jupiter at once: for example parallel brownish stripes can be next to areas colored pale yellow or orange; these stripes are called zonal bands while large stable whitish areas are referred to as zones.[27] In total there are usually six zone/band pairs visible although occasionally only five will be apparent.[28] The area where a zone intersects with its adjacent band is referred to as a zone boundary or transition region while any very small zone which manage to retain its individuality amidst turbulent neighboring bands can be referred to as an oasis.[29] Fluctuations in light absorption by Jupiter’s atmosphere cause some zones and belt regions to lighten up noticeably while others darken giving rise over time to lightening then darkening cycles known colloquially on Earth as “aeons.”[30][31][32]
Other Notable Features
In addition to the Great Red Spot, Jupiter has several other notable features. These include the dark stripes that run parallel to the planet’s equator, known as cloud bands. There are two main types of cloud bands: the diffuse North Equatorial Belt (NEB) and the much sharper South Equatorial Belt (SEB). Between these two belts is a region known as the Equatorial Zone (EZ).
Jupiter also has several smaller red spots, as well as some white ones. The most famous of these is probably the Great White Spot, which was first observed in 1879 and has been seen sporadically ever since. Other notable features include the “hot spots” at Jupiter’s south pole, which were discovered by the Galileo spacecraft in 1995; and the “ribbon,” a series of alternating dark and light bands that was discovered by the Cassini spacecraft in 2000.
Saturn
The Great Red Spot is a giant storm on the planet Saturn. It has been raging for centuries and shows no signs of stopping. The storm is so large that it could easily fit two Earths inside it.
The Great Red Spot
Saturn’s most famous feature is a large storm that is bigger than Earth and has been raging for hundreds of years. The storm is called the Great Red Spot, and it is a giant cyclone with winds that can reach up to 600 miles per hour (1,000 kilometers per hour).
Other Notable Features
In addition to the Great Red Spot, Saturn has several other notable features. These include:
-Its rings, which are made up of tiny pieces of ice and rock and are one of the most visually distinctive features of any planet in our solar system.
-The hexagon-shaped jet stream at its north pole, which was first discovered by the Voyager 1 spacecraft in 1980.
-Its moons, including Titan, which is the second largest moon in our solar system and has a dense atmosphere made up of nitrogen and methane.
Neptune
Neptune is the eighth and farthest-known planet from the Sun in the Solar System. In the Solar System, it is the fourth-largest planet by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and is slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus, which is 15 times the mass of Earth and slightly larger than Neptune. Neptune was the first planet found by mathematical prediction rather than by empirical observation.
The Great Red Spot
Neptune, the farthest known major planet in our solar system, has some pretty interesting features. One of the most iconic is the Great Red Spot. But what exactly is it?
The Great Red Spot is a giant storm that has been raging on Neptune for at least 400 years. It is located in the southern hemisphere of the planet, and is about twice the size of Earth. The storm produces high winds that can reach speeds of up to 1,500 miles per hour.
The origin of the Great Red Spot is still a mystery, but scientists have a few theories. One possibility is that it is a vortex created by differential rotation— meaning that different parts of Neptune’s atmosphere are rotating at different speeds. Another theory suggests that the spot is actually an ancient impact crater that has been filled in by gases over time.
Whatever the case may be, the Great Red Spot is an impressive and fascinating feature of Neptune, and one that definitely makes it stand out among the other planets in our solar system!
Other Notable Features
Lurking just below the surface of Neptune’s atmosphere is a giant storm larger than Earth. This raging hurricane is called the Great Dark Spot (GDS), and was first observed by Voyager 2 in 1989. Since then, other dark spots have been seen, but none as large as the GDS. These storms are thought to be similar to Jupiter’s Great Red Spot.
Uranus
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. Uranus is similar in composition to Neptune, and both have bulk chemical compositions which differ from that of the larger gas giants Jupiter and Saturn.
The Great Red Spot
Uranus’s most notable feature is the Great Red Spot, a giant swirling storm that is large enough to fit two Earths inside it. The storm has been raging for at least 400 years, and possibly longer. Scientists are not sure why the storm is red, but it may be due to Uranus’s unique atmospheric composition.
Other Notable Features
In addition to the Great Red Spot, Uranus has a number of other notable features. These include:
-The southern hemisphere of the planet is almost entirely covered in cloud bands of varying shades of blue.
-Uranus has a very faint and diffuse ring system that was discovered in 1977 by the Voyager 2 spacecraft.
-The planet has 27 moons, the largest of which are Titania and Oberon.
