Hubble images show Jupiter's Great Red Spot shrinking
Posted: Sun, May 18, 2014, 10:42 AM ET (1442 GMT)
New images from the Hubble Space Telescope show that Jupiter's Great Red Spot has shrunk to the smallest size ever observed for the massive storm. The Hubble images, taken earlier this year, show the Great Red Spot is now about 16,500 kilometers across, about one-third smaller than when the Voyager spacecraft flew past Jupiter in 1979. Astronomers have been observing a gradual shrinking of the storm, as well as a change in shape from oblong to more circular; that rate of shrinkage has increased in recent years. Scientists speculate that interactions with small eddies in the atmosphere may be draining the storm of energy and causing it to become smaller.
New images from the Hubble Space Telescope show that Jupiter's Great Red Spot has shrunk to the smallest size ever observed for the massive storm. The Hubble images, taken earlier this year, show the Great Red Spot is now about 16,500 kilometers across, about one-third smaller than when the Voyager spacecraft flew past Jupiter in 1979. Astronomers have been observing a gradual shrinking of the storm, as well as a change in shape from oblong to more circular; that rate of shrinkage has increased in recent years. Scientists speculate that interactions with small eddies in the atmosphere may be draining the storm of energy and causing it to become smaller.| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
Apex becomes billion-dollar company with $200 million Series D round
Posted: Sun, Sep 14 4:09 AM ET (0809 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Wednesday, September 17
Falcon 9 launch of Starlink satellites scheduled for Wednesday morning
KEYT-TV Santa Barbara, CA — 1:34 am ET (0534 GMT) Colorado Springs springs into action amid loss of Space Command
Washington Times — 1:34 am ET (0534 GMT) SpaceX rocket-launching license survives NEPA challenge
POLITICO — 1:30 am ET (0530 GMT) SpaceX Eyes First Starship Version 3 Launch In ’25 Or ’26
Aviation Week — 1:29 am ET (0529 GMT) Judge dismisses suit challenging SpaceX's Starship approval
Houston Chronicle — 1:28 am ET (0528 GMT) |
