Jupiter's
Great Red
Spot Is Shrinking
Jupiter's
Great Red
Spot — the most powerful storm in the solar system — is at its smallest observed size yet, and scientists aren't sure why.
Recent Hubble Space Telescope images of the storm show that it is **w 10,250 miles across, which is less than half the size of the storm in the late 1800s. At one point, scientists theorized that three Earths could fit inside the
Great Red Spot, but today, only the width of one Earth could fit within the raging tempest. You can
watch a Great Red Spot video for more views of the diminishing storm.
Image: NASA
ESA
As the
Spot diminishes, its shrinkage rate appears to be accelerating. Amateur observations from 2012 show the storm's "waistline" is reducing by 580 miles a year, a little less than the driving distance from New York City to Cincinnati
SEE ALSO: Photos of the Solar System's Biggest Storm, Jupiters Great Red Spot
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