New Findings By Scientists Shed More Light On Jupiter’s Red Spot Mystery

“The Great Red Spot is a large hurricane in Jupiter about three times the size of the Earth, at least 150 years old, likely thousands of years old”, says Kevin Nolan, lecturer at IT Tallaght and Irish representative of The Planetary Society.

Observations show that Jupiter’s upper atmosphere – above the Great Red Spot – is hundreds of degrees hotter than anywhere else on the planet.

The gas giant’s upper atmosphere is warm.

“With solar heating from above ruled out, we designed observations to map the heat distribution over the entire planet in search for any temperature anomalies that might yield clues as to where the energy is coming from”, said Dr. James O’Donoghue, research scientist at Boston University and lead author of the study, in a news release.

By rights, O’Donoghue explained, Jupiter’s upper atmosphere should be around -100 degrees Fahrenheit. Particles crashing through the atmosphere, inducing southern and northern lights, also heat it to temperatures more than 1,000 °C. So if the sun’s rays aren’t to blame, what’s causing things to heat up?

“The Great Red Spot is the largest storm in the solar system – it is bigger than Earth itself – so it generates a lot of turbulence that impedes the flow of air in the atmosphere”, O’Donoghue said. By using a spectrometer to study that molecule, O’Donoghue could measure temperatures, discovering that the atmosphere above the storm was hundreds of degrees hotter.

They observed the planet for nine consecutive hours – the best part of a Jovian day – in December 2012 with the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility in Hawaii. Above the Great Red Spot, however, the atmosphere is about 2,420 degrees F (about 1,330 degrees C), O’Donoghue said.

The researchers believe the energy that heats the upper atmosphere may come up from below, with the GRS providing an extreme example.

According to NASA, Juno will get several chances to closely study the Great Red Spot and the regions surrounding it. The spacecraft’s microwave radiometer will probe the planet and sense the heat coming from inside.

While the Great Red Spot twists and rages, it causes turbulent flows of gas in Jupiter’s upper atmosphere.

You can picture the GRS as swirling tea being stirred in a cup: If you start stirring in the opposite direction, you’ll see and hear splashes as a result of the interference. They collide with the upper atmosphere, losing their energy by moving the molecules they encounter. Faster vibrations translates to more heat.

“Sometimes, ironically, it is easier to see these features on a planet far away [from Earth]”, said Stallar, who advised O’Donoghue throughout his research. “But we wanted to find some connection between the upper and lower atmosphere”. The same happens in layers of an atmosphere. It could even be happening on other worlds.

And maybe the gas giants’ energy crisis has been resolved.

“I hope it doesn’t shrink too much so we can’t understand it before it goes, because that would be a shame”.