NASA estimates that Jupiter’s great storm has m.
Every time we know better the space and our planetary neighbors, although sometimes the findings have a rather melancholic flavor (or directly they are things that no longer exist). And the last thing that is being pointed out is that the disappearance of the Great Red Spot of Jupiter it may occur earlier than expected.
We talked about it in detail, one of its characteristics being precisely its long life, since we have been observing it for more than 300 years (if Robert Hooke were the first, as is believed, 354 years). But the latest estimates suggest that we would be living the last years of this monstrous storm which has been a characteristic red brooch from the giant of our neighborhood.
We have two decades to make popcorn
Thanks to Juno we have impressive images of Jupiter and also very valuable information. In fact, a few weeks ago we knew this Great Spot better thanks to the instruments of the probe, knowing that its depth is 50 and 100 times deeper than the Earth’s oceans and that the temperatures in it are much higher at the base than in the surface.
At that time we also saw what the possible mechanism of its formation was, talking about a work published in Nature that spoke of the interaction between the two atmospheres of the planet (upper and lower). Specifically, the permanence of the storm is due to the fact that there two huge streams moving in opposite directions and they keep it stable.
And what has now been determined is, perhaps, less beautiful. Recalling this of the two streams, Glenn Orton, principal investigator on the Juno project, explained to Business Insider that all storms eventually disappear and that this one It’s been fading for a while.
He speaks of the decrease in the size of the Spot specifically since its size could be calculated for the first time (in the 19th century), when its diameter was about four times that of Earth, now being around 1.3 times. Furthermore, the researchers conclude that the Great Red Spot will disappear in about 20 years, which Orton sums up quite peculiarly.
The Great Red Spot will be the Great Red Circle in a decade . Maybe sometime later it will be the Great Red Memory .
Investigating against the clock
When we talk about space, we are used to being told distances that it is difficult for us to assimilate (with light years or astronomical units) or terms that are directly so long that we instantly assume that we will not be spectators. But in this case, NASA scientists speak of only 20 years, so if we continue to scrutinize Jupiter as we do now, perhaps we can witness the decline of this storm that for centuries has characterized the exterior of the gas giant.
For now, we will continue to enjoy the fascinating images that Juno and the rest of the space observatories send us, which, as we can see, are used to know and predict (theoretically) what will happen in our surroundings. In fact, about the stain we have already seen that no matter how red it is, in theory it should be white.
