Jupiter is the largest planet in our Solar System, and aside from Earth and perhaps Saturn it’s also the most recognizable. But unlike Earth or Saturn, Jupiter’s personality doesn’t come from massive oceans or a series of iconic rings; Jupiter’s rolling clouds and its massive storm, called the Great Red Spot, is what really sets the planet apart from its peers. Now, NASA’s Juno spacecraft has gotten its best look yet at the never-ending storm and discovered that it’s even more epic than previously thought.
Upon observing the storm up close, Juno sent back data that scientists have used to make some impressive deductions about the storm’s actual size. We’ve known for some time that the storm is wider than the entirety of Earth, but determining how deep it actually extends into the planet’s atmosphere has always been debatable. Thanks to Juno, we now know that the rapidly-moving, swirling clouds stretch 200 miles deep. That’s one big storm.
“Juno found that the Great Red Spot’s roots go 50 to 100 times deeper than Earth’s oceans and are warmer at the base than they are at the top,” Andy Ingersoll, a professor of planetary science at Caltech, explains. “Winds are associated with differences in temperature, and the warmth of the spot’s base explains the ferocious winds we see at the top of the atmosphere.”
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