The so called “Eye” of Jupiter is shrinking, and it’s getting rounder.
Known to astronomers as the Great Red Spot since its discovery by Italian astronomer Giovanni Cassini in 1665 (though he shares the credit with Englishman Robert Hooke) the spot is actually a huge storm. A strong east-to-west jet stream to the north and a west-to-east jet stream to its south help hold it in position and contribute to its counterclockwise rotation.
Calculations put the diameter of the Eye at 25,500 miles across in the late 1800s and Voyager spacecraft measured it at 14,500 miles as recently as 1979. Now it is down to a measly 10,250.
Scientists are not sure why the Eye is shrinking – they’re not totally sure what caused it in the first place or why it has lasted so long – but if it were happening here, they would be blaming Global Warming.
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