Jupiter’s Great Red Spot Is Not On The Verge Of Death, Say Scientists

Jupiter's Great Red Spot is one of its defining features. In news for some time with claims that it could be dying, new research now dispels those theories saying that the GRS is here to stay. According to a report in CNN, last year's photos from NASA's Juno mission appeared to show that the GRS was shedding flakes, leading to theories that it might be dying.

However, a report sharing findings by Phillip Marcus, a professor of fluid dynamics at the University of California, Berkeley, and his team in the American Physical Society's Division of Fluid Dynamics’ 72nd Annual Meeting in Seattle on Monday dispelled those death rumours.

According to Marcus and his team, a computer analysis of the GRS through detailed high-res images determined that the size of the vortex is not equal to the clouds visible. They tested a separate storm on Jupiter and came to the conclusion that the shrinking of the clouds had nothing to do with the vortex of the storm itself, the report stated.

Speaking about the Great Red Spot, Marcus added that he did not think "its fortunes were ever bad." According to the report, the GRS is an anticyclone -- since it moves in the direction opposite to the plant's orbit and was first seen in 1664 by Robert Hook. However, according to NASA, the first sighting was in 1831, the report further revealed.