Jupiter ’s Great Red Spot , the Solar System ’s most ill-famed violent storm , is the small it has been in observational history . The reasons behind its shrinking luck are not fully understood , but it ’s been suggested this elephantine pocket billiards of storm clouds is n’t die anywhere soon .

The Great Red Spot is a gargantuan swirling storm in Jupiter ’s southern hemisphere that ’s so large it could swallow the Earth several fourth dimension over . Within this elephantine fleck of fierce tempest clouds , winds spin counterclockwise at speeds that outdo 643 kilometers ( 400 land mile ) per hour .

Its ancestry are unknown , but there have been account statement of a blot on the satellite ever since humans start out observing Jupiter in the 17th 100 . Whether it ’s the same billet , however , is up for debate since the observational disk from this time is patchy ( it probably is though ) .

What is clear is that the spothas been shrinkingover the past century . Along with this shrinkage , it appears the spot is becoming less oval - shape andmore round .

In the nineteenth century , astronomers figure that it spanned around 41,000 kilometers ( 25,476 naut mi ) at its all-inclusive degree . When NASA ’s Voyager spacecraft fly by in 1979 and 1980 , the position was measured to be 23,335 kilometers ( 14,499 miles ) across . In 2014 , Hubblethen gaugedthat the spot was just under 16,500 kilometers ( 10,252 miles ) across .

accord toSky & Telescope , recent reflection by planetary beholder and astrophotographer Damian Peach suggest the smirch is presently just 12,500 km ( 7,770 miles ) across .

trueness be told , the elephantine cherry position is somewhat of an brain-teaser . We do n’t even fully understand the chemical concoction that makes it glow with a rich red - orange tree color . Even with today ’s tiptop - sharp telescopes , it ’s not possible to peerdeep within the stormbeyond its superficial surface clouds and in truth get to grips with the dynamics that forge form , coloring , and sizing .

Despite the reports of its shrinking size , it does n’t appear like the red spot is twiddle into a death . In 2021,research indicatedthat the outermost wind instrument of Jupiter ’s Great Red Spot are accelerating . Some astronomers believe the spot is here to say as it will extend to be fueled by heating and cooling patterns around the maelstrom .

" I do n’t intend its fortunes were ever bad . It ’s more like Mark Twain ’s comment : The reports about its death have been greatly exaggerated , " Philip Marcus , a professor of runny moral force at the University of California , Berkeley , said in 2019 .

Then again , nothing is sure in this strange Solar System .

" I think that unless something somewhat cataclysmal come about on Jupiter , it will last for the indefinite future , until the jet streams change , so I would say likely centuries , " Marcusreportedlysaid in a news show conference . " Of course , I in all probability just generate it the kiss of expiry and it ’ll probably fall down apart next week , but that ’s the way skill works . "