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The great red spot of Jupiter is one of the most emblematic features of any planet in our solar system. The colossal and swirling storm has dominated Jupiter for years, and that's one of the things we always expect to see when new images of Jupiter are released. Unfortunately, the place is dying of a slow and dying death, and it is possible that it is completely gone during our lifetime.
The storm is out of steam and, although astronomers are still looking to learn more about the formation and maintenance mechanisms of Jupiter's huge storms, it is clear that the days of the Great Red Spot are numbered. Now, the observations of Jupiter's veteran observer, Anthony Wesley, seem to reveal the storm that is shaking as it turns into Jupiter's atmosphere.
In most of the pictures you will see of the big red patch of years past, the storm seems to be a bold oval shape with a distinctly round shape. Now, as the increasingly rare storm begins to die, new blade-like shapes begin to form along its edges. The long arms extend when the storm turns and finally seem to detach from the main storm and dissipate.
As Space.com reports, the NASA Juno spacecraft has made similar observations on the big red blot, and NASA scientists are eager to study the behavior of the storm during their next flyby later this year. Blade-shaped formations, once a rare sight, are now occurring with increased frequency, perhaps indicating that major changes are about to occur.
At the current rate, observers believe that the once massive storm could disappear completely in a few decades. That said, no one has ever seen such a dramatic change before, and we will not really know what the behavior of the storm means before we see what the future holds.
Image Source: NASA / JPL
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