Jupiter's red spot may not be the same as the one observed in 1665

What looks like a red spot from space is actually a giant anticyclonic vortex twice the size of Earth. Recent observations suggest that the storm involves winds blowing at speeds of up to 400 miles per hour, and that its distinctive color may be due to the interaction between elements in Jupiter's atmosphere and cosmic rays or other forms of radiation. But even though this place has been known for centuries, there is still so much more to it Puzzles For researchers.

Cassini is known as a pioneer of telescopic astronomy, and was the first to discover it. opinion The spot was described in 1665 as a dark oval, and she wrote that the spot was “permanent which was often seen to return in the same place of the same size and shape.” Astronomers recorded spot observations until 1713, but then observations stopped. It would take until 1831 for other scientists to again report a location in the same location as Cassini identified.

writing In Geophysical Research Letters, contemporary researchers have used historical observations to track the size and movement of the slick over the years, and compare those ancient observations with modern observations. They then simulated the different ways the stain could arise.

Their analysis suggests that the spot seen today is more similar to the one Cassini observed in the 19th century than to the one Cassini observed long ago. Over time, the spot has shrunk in size and become more round, perhaps because it rotates faster, the researchers wrote. They conclude that the spot may have been formed by unstable winds that produced an initial observable storm that then disappeared and returned.

“It was very stimulating and inspiring to look back at Cassini’s observations and drawings,” Agustín Sánchez La Vega, a professor of applied physics at the University of the Basque Country in Bilbao, Spain, who led the research, said in an article. News launch“Others before us have explored these observations, and now we have measured the results,” he added.