WHAT'S HAPPENING TO THE GREAT RED SPOT? The biggest storm in the solar system is shrinking. Since mid-May, Jupiter's Great Red Spot has contracted a startling 3000 km, reducing the size of the anti-cyclone by more than 20%. This 10-day movie created by Marco Vedovato of the JUPOS Project shows what's happening:
Enormous rivulets of red gas are streaming away from the storm as it spins. "This is something we've never seen before," says Vedovato, who assembled the animation by stitching together images from nearly a dozen amateur astronomers.
Experienced observers say the storm is "getting a new shape every day" in a "dramatic metamorphasis" as the Red Spot "appears to be unravelling."
Consider it a case of perfect timing. Jupiter is about to make its annual closest approach to Earth--"only" 641 million km away on June 12th. Proximity makes the planet big and bright, shining almost four times brighter than Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. Astrophotographers are therefore getting a fantastic view of the GRS.
Jupiter rising over Bluff, Utah. Photo credit: Paul Martini
"The JUPOS Project manages the largest Jupiter database in the world," says Vedovato. "So far we have collected more than 1 million measurements, including old images and drawings from the 18th century, allowing us to plot very precise trends in the Great Red Spot." This plot , for instance, shows the sudden decrease in the storm's diameter since early May.
Observing tips: Finding Jupiter is easy. Because the giant planet is at opposition , it rises in the east at sunset and stays up all night long. The best time to look is around local midnight when Jupiter is hanging relatively high in the southern sky. Even small telescopes will reveal the planet's oblate disk and stormy cloud belts. And Jupiter's 4 largest moons can be seen using no more than handheld binoculars: sky map.
