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Jupiter's Great Red
Spot
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JUPITER'S
GREAT RED SPOT
The main feature of the giant planet, Jupiter, is
its Great Red Spot. This is an area in the planet's
atmosphere (coloured red!) which Earth could fit into three times! It has
been observed on the planet's surface for centuries and what it
was remained a mystery until the Pioneer 10
and 11 missions were launched in 1972 and
1973 to take a look at the Gas
Giants,
followed by Voyagers 1 and 2 in 1977. These four probes sent
back pictures of Jupiter and the Great Red Spot, showing us that
the area was, in fact, a swirling storm cloud. It is an area of
high pressure which gets weaker and stronger over time. This is
shown by how red the spot actually appears (the higher the
pressure, the redder the spot appears). The Great Red Spot has
been observed for over 300 years. Nobody knows how long it has
lasted or how long it will last. A similar Dark Spot on Neptune was
discovered in 1989 when Voyager arrived at the planet, but it had
vanished when the planet was observed again in 1994. However,
another mysterious dark spot has since appeared on the planet! It
is known that other, smaller spots appear on Jupiter, although
these also disappear too. Jupiter's Great Red Spot has shown no
sign yet of disappearing.
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