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Three centuries of weather

Jupiter's Storm That Never Stops

A storm wider than Earth has been spinning on Jupiter for over 300 years.

A hurricane on Earth Lasts about a weekJupiter's Great Red Spot Going for 300+ years
Same physics. No off switch.

  1. Step 1 of 5

    Jupiter has no ground.

    On Earth Storms scrape over landand dieOn Jupiter No surface to rub on —nothing stops it

    It is a giant ball of gas with no solid surface anywhere near the top. There is nothing for a storm to drag against and lose energy to.

  2. Step 2 of 5

    The Great Red Spot is enormous.

    The Great Red Spot16,000 km wideEarth12,742 kmA big hurricaneabout 500 km

    It is about 16,000 km across — wide enough to swallow Earth whole with room to spare. Its winds run at 430 km per hour.

  3. Step 3 of 5

    It is a high-pressure storm, spinning backwards.

    High pressure at thecentreWinds at 430 km/hRises 8 km above thecloud topsSpins once every 6 days

    Unlike a hurricane, the Spot has high pressure at its centre and spins anticlockwise, rising rather than sucking in. It bulges 8 km above the surrounding clouds.

  4. Step 4 of 5

    Jupiter has heat of its own.

    Jupiter's weatherHeat rising from insideA little sunlight, far away

    It radiates more energy than it receives from the Sun, still leaking warmth from its formation. That internal heat keeps its weather running.

  5. Step 5 of 5

    But it is shrinking.

    In 1880about 40,000 kmIn 197923,000 kmToday16,000 km

    In the 1800s the Spot was about twice as wide. It has been steadily narrowing, and may not survive the next century.

    Nobody knows exactly when it started. We have watched it continuously since at least 1830.

The short version

Jupiter's storm never ends because there is no ground to slow it and internal heat to keep feeding it.

Try it yourself

Stir a cup of tea and watch the swirl die out — the cup's sides drag on it. Jupiter has no sides.

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