Jupiter's Great Red Spot rapidly shrinking
This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Washington • Jupiter's Great Red Spot seems to be on a cosmic diet, shrinking rapidly before our eyes.
Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope calculate that the spot, a giant long-lasting storm, is narrowing by about 580 miles a year, much faster than before.
In the late 1800s the red spot was an oval 25,500 miles wide. Now it's a circle that's 10,250 miles across.
Michael Wong, a scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, said the spot is a mystery. Astronomers don't know why it's red or shrinking, or what will happen next. If this pace continues, in 17 years the spot could be gone. Or it could stop at a smaller size.
Wong said one theory is the spot eats smaller storms, and that it is consuming fewer of them.