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Credit & Copyright: Mike Salway
Explanation:
Jupiter's Great Red Spot,
is a swirling storm seen for over
300 years, since the begining of telescopic observations of
the Solar System's ruling gas giant.
But over the last month it has been
joined by Red Spot Jr.
Thought to be similar to the Great Red Spot itself,
this not-so-great red spot was actually seen to form as
smaller whitish oval-shaped storms
merged and then developed the remarkable reddish hue.
This webcam image showing
the two red tinted Jovian storms
was recorded on the morning of March 12 from
the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia -
part of a series showing
Jupiter's rotation.
Similar in diameter to planet Earth,
Red
Spot Jr. is expected to last for a while, and
trails the Great Red Spot by about an hour
as the planet rotates.
Astronomers still don't exactly understand why
Jupiter's red spots are red.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Jupiter - red spot - storm
Publications with words: Jupiter - red spot - storm
See also: