Jupiter's Shrinking Red Spot

Jupiter's legendary Great Red Spot, a huge storm that has been raging in that planet's remarkable atmosphere for at least 300 years, has shrunk by about 15 percent over the past several years. Scientists base that conclusion on the amount of energy lost by the storm.

The closest Earthly analogy to such storms on Jupiter is the hurricane. That is clearly a poor comparison, however. Hurricanes may last weeks; Jupiter's storms can last decades or centuries. The Great Red Spot, which has roughly twice the diameter of Earth, was first observed in the 1600s, in the early days of telescopic astronomy. How long it was there before then is anybody's guess.

Scientists don't expect the Great Red Spot to fade away any time soon. It still has winds of 300 mph. Jupiter's climate is currently undergoing change, however, with energy within the atmosphere being redistributed and rebalanced. There are other storms on Jupiter currently as powerful as the Spot. Those storms, though, are newcomers. The Great Red Spot has shown itself to be a survivor.