Watching the atmosphere of Jupiter has fascinated both amateur and professional astronomers for centuries. It's bands, swirls, spots, and color variations can be easily tracked over time using good backyard telescopes. The Great Red Spot, a huge hurricane-like storm, has been a constant in Jupiter's atmosphere perhaps for as long as humans have had telescopes to observe the planet. There have been periods when the storm seemed to weaken, but it has always come back strong.
Such spots are not uncommon on Jupiter, but most are short'lived. At the moment, however, a storm is developing that already rivals the Great Red Spot in wind speed (well over 300 mph), but seems to be still growing. Further, the Great Red Spot seems to be getting cut off from its energy source.
We have no idea whether this is simply a long-period cycle in the Jovian atmosphere or somethiing more significant, but this summer may have some stunners in store for Jupiter watchers.
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