NASA astronomers have solved the greatest mystery of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot: ‘It’s a monster’

A group of scientists from different nationalities published a study in which they revealed unknown data about big red spot which is located on the planet Jupiter. Thanks to the data provided by the Juno space probe from at NASA, Researchers have discovered that this spot is a storm of profound proportions that can swallow it whole Earth. ‘He’s a live beast’Certain One of the study’s co-authors.

According to research published last Thursday in magazine ScienceAnd The The Great Red Point has a depth of between 300 and 500 km. Although scientists claim that this prevalence is shrinking, These dimensions are enormous.

Recent data on the depth of this phenomenon add to what was already known about it, namely that it is a storm of a width of 16,000 km. With these measurements, it can be seen in new photos Three-dimensional from this planet big red spot It looks like a “fat pie”.

Scott Bolton, subordinate San Antonio Southwest Research Institute, United States, He said there might be no limits as such at the bottom of the storm. “It is likely that it will gradually fade and continue to decline“, Bolton commented at a press conference compiled by The Associated Press.

The research also indicates that big red spot Possibly the longest Jovian storm ever measured with Juno’s Gravitational and Microwave Mapping Instruments, to explain Bolton.

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The scientist also said that thousands of storms hit the largest planet in the solar system at all times. Beautiful and colorful swirls, clouds and whiskers covering the entire planet, As seen in the spaceship.

Until a decade ago, it was the best way to study any phenomenon on Jupiter You were supposed to see it from afar. You can use NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, which orbits the Earth, or ground-based telescopes. With them, it was possible to determine the width The Great Red Spot But the depth of the phenomenon has been the subject of speculation in the scientific environment.

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“Some of them speculated that it would be very shallow, as if we were talking about tens of kilometers. Others believed: “Well, in theory, it could go as deep as the core of Jupiter.”He told the site American in technology the edge Marzia Baresi, Study co-author and scientist The Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology.

Now, thanks to the scientific tools provided by Juno, researchers have realized the depth of big red spot Gas planet. Its depth, 350 to 500 kilometers, may seem less than the width of the phenomenon, but it is nonetheless of enormous proportions.

“That means it’s a giant storm. If you put this storm on Earth, it will spread to the International Space Station.” It’s straightforward a monster‘, he said to the aforementioned publication Yohay Caspi, co-author of the study and Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel.

Next task Juno It will measure the depth of polar cyclones, which can become deeper under the planet’s clouds. but Bolton I don’t think this is possible. “I wouldn’t be too quick to say we saw the deepest, but big red spot It’s the largest and that’s what makes it so special on its own. “You were expecting to go deeper just because of that,” he said.

Juno space probe was launched into space in 2011 It has been orbiting Jupiter since 2016. Recently, NASA extended its mission for another four years, until 2025.

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