JUPITER'S LITTLE RED SPOT
Many of us have heard of the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. But what is it? And what about the Little Red Spot? Both are storms, constantly raging. I learned the following information from an article at the website of Spaceflight Now.
Jupiter's Little Red Spot is getting stronger. The wind speeds of this enormous storm have grown stronger and are now equal to the wind speeds of the Great Red Spot, the largest storm on Jupiter. NASA's Hubble telescope have observed this phenomenon. The highest wind speeds in Jupiter's Little Red Spot have increased and are now equal to those in its older and larger sibling, the Great Red Spot, according to observations with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. We have observed the Great Red Spot for the past 400 years. The Little Red Spot's winds speeds are approximately 400 miles per hour. The increased intensity of the storm is probably why it changed color from white to red in late 2005.
The website of Spaceflight Now describes the following accounts of scientists: '"No one has ever seen a storm on Jupiter grow stronger and turn red before," said Amy Simon-Miller of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., lead author of a paper describing the new observations appearing in the journal Icarus. "We hope continued observations of the Little Red Spot will shed light on the many mysteries of the Great Red Spot, including the composition of its clouds and the chemistry that gives it its red color."'
The storms may seem small when compared to the huge size of Jupiter. But the Little Red Spot is actually about the size of Earth, and the Great Red Spot is around three Earth diameters across. Both storms are in Jupiter's southern hemisphere. They are powered by warm air rising in their centers. Scientists don't know why the Little Red Spot is getting stronger. One possibility is a change in size. The winds of this storm spin around their central core of rising air. If the storm were to become smaller, its spiraling winds would increase. It is believed that the Little Red Spot has changed color because as its winds grow stronger it reaches materials embedded deeper in the surface, and that these materials could turn red when exposed to ultraviolet light.
Many of us have heard of the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. But what is it? And what about the Little Red Spot? Both are storms, constantly raging. I learned the following information from an article at the website of Spaceflight Now.
Jupiter's Little Red Spot is getting stronger. The wind speeds of this enormous storm have grown stronger and are now equal to the wind speeds of the Great Red Spot, the largest storm on Jupiter. NASA's Hubble telescope have observed this phenomenon. The highest wind speeds in Jupiter's Little Red Spot have increased and are now equal to those in its older and larger sibling, the Great Red Spot, according to observations with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. We have observed the Great Red Spot for the past 400 years. The Little Red Spot's winds speeds are approximately 400 miles per hour. The increased intensity of the storm is probably why it changed color from white to red in late 2005.
The website of Spaceflight Now describes the following accounts of scientists: '"No one has ever seen a storm on Jupiter grow stronger and turn red before," said Amy Simon-Miller of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., lead author of a paper describing the new observations appearing in the journal Icarus. "We hope continued observations of the Little Red Spot will shed light on the many mysteries of the Great Red Spot, including the composition of its clouds and the chemistry that gives it its red color."'
The storms may seem small when compared to the huge size of Jupiter. But the Little Red Spot is actually about the size of Earth, and the Great Red Spot is around three Earth diameters across. Both storms are in Jupiter's southern hemisphere. They are powered by warm air rising in their centers. Scientists don't know why the Little Red Spot is getting stronger. One possibility is a change in size. The winds of this storm spin around their central core of rising air. If the storm were to become smaller, its spiraling winds would increase. It is believed that the Little Red Spot has changed color because as its winds grow stronger it reaches materials embedded deeper in the surface, and that these materials could turn red when exposed to ultraviolet light.
posted by Caroline at 4:52 PM
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