# Jupiters Great Red Spot - Always there? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 4, 2003, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jupiters-great-red-spot-always-there/152801 "2003-02-04T22:13:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jupiters-great-red-spot-always-there/152801/1 "2003-02-04T22:13:39Z")
From what I understand, Jupiters Great Red Spot was first seen by Robert Hooke in 1664. From what I also understand, Telescopes weren’t around terribly long before this, either. So, my question is this. Is it generally accepted that the Red Spot has been around for say, thousands if not millions of years and it just wasn’t observed until Hooke in 1664 because good enough telescopes didn’t exist before that time? Or, did it only actually form around 1664 and is hence only about 340 years old and its just a fluke that it happened to form at around the time that telescope technology was in its infancy? ---
**Author:** ![Jpeg\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@Jpeg\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jpeg_Jones)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jupiters-great-red-spot-always-there/152801/2 "2003-02-04T22:20:47Z")
[This](http://heritage.stsci.edu/1999/29/table.html) page says that it was first _noticed_ in the 17th century. And since it has been around in full force since at least then, I think it would be safe to say that it was around for a while before then, too. It’s impossible to know for sure how long it has been there, though. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jupiters-great-red-spot-always-there/152801/3 "2003-02-04T22:26:32Z")
> [@](#): > > **Presumably the persistence of the Great Red Spot is related to the fact that it never comes over land, as in the case of a hurricane on Earth, and that it is driven by Jupiter’s internal heat source. Computer simulations suggest that such large disturbances may be stable on Jupiter, and that stronger disturbances tend to absorb weaker ones** From [this page.](http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/jupiter/redspot.html) ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jupiters-great-red-spot-always-there/152801/4 "2018-02-20T02:53:51Z")
Updating this thread: > [@](#): > > With winds as high as 400 mph (644 km/h), Jupiter’s Great Red Spot has been brewing for at least 150 years. Astronomers in the 1600s identified a blurry feature on Jupiter that may have been the spot, but scientists aren’t certain that it was the same storm. In recent years, the storm has shrunk to the width of a single Earth. Previously, it was estimated to be three Earths wide. At the same time, observations showed that the color of the spot has been changing, suggesting that its composition may also be shifting. > **[What Makes Jupiter's Great Spot Red? It's Still a Mystery](https://www.space.com/39590-jupiter-great-red-spot-color-still-a-mystery.html)** > > What gives Jupiter's Great Red Spot its distinct color? A new study shows why the answer may not be easy to find. **Jupiter’s Great Red Spot may have only 10 to 20 years left before it dies** > **[Jupiter's Great Red Spot may have only 10 to 20 years left before it disappears](https://www.businessinsider.com/how-long-jupiter-great-red-spot-will-last-2018-2)** > > Jupiter's clouds have kept the Great Red Spot going for about 350 years, but the storm has shrunk by 50% since the 1800s and may vanish in your lifetime. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jupiters-great-red-spot-always-there/152801/5 "2018-02-20T02:59:25Z")
Somebody remember to bump this again in 20 years. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jupiters-great-red-spot-always-there/152801/6 "2018-02-20T08:42:03Z")
I predict that, if the great red spot does shrink down into the background of all those other, smaller (yet still unimaginably vast) storms, one of the storms in the opposite hemisphere will increase in size and become the dominant visual feature of the planet. At first glance, It doesn’t look like the great red spot has any influence across the equator of the planet, but I suspect its presence injects sufficient chaos to disrupt the formation of very large features in the other jet streams. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jupiters-great-red-spot-always-there/152801/7 "2018-02-20T08:46:41Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Somebody remember to bump this again in 20 years. ^^^^ this ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jupiters-great-red-spot-always-there/152801/8 "2018-02-21T15:11:12Z")
One point of trivia I’ve been fond of is that two Earths could just nestle inside the GRS – a really big storm, indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Doubticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@Doubticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doubticus)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jupiters-great-red-spot-always-there/152801/9 "2018-02-21T18:19:11Z")
I can remember 40 years ago looking at Jupiter with my dad and how easy it was to see the red spot. With a much better scope, it is a challenge to spot these days. That’s how much it has changed. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jupiters-great-red-spot-always-there/152801/10 "2018-02-21T21:17:24Z")
I’ve seen Jupiter several times through a scope powerful enough to see the Spot, but just never happened to be looking at the right time: It was always on the far side. ---
**Author:** ![sbunny8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@sbunny8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sbunny8)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2018, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jupiters-great-red-spot-always-there/152801/11 "2018-02-22T15:27:38Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > One point of trivia I’ve been fond of is that two Earths could just nestle inside the GRS – a really big storm, indeed. That hasn’t been true since the early eighties. The width of the red spot is currently only 1.3 times the diameter of Earth and shrinking. It’s wider than it is tall, which means just one Earth would barely fit inside the spot. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jupiters-great-red-spot-always-there/152801/12 "2018-02-23T15:26:29Z")
Another cherished factoid crushed. Thanks, **sbunny8**. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jupiters-great-red-spot-always-there/152801/13 "2018-02-23T15:56:19Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > **Jupiter’s Great Red Spot may have only 10 to 20 years left before it dies** This is going to really hurt its image. Forget Mars, I want NASA working on a way to build that storm back up again. I guess the Jovian Chamber of Commerce can go with “Now giant planet-sized hurricane free!” ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jupiters-great-red-spot-always-there/152801/14 "2018-02-23T16:11:07Z")
The Great Red Spot on Jupiter spins the wrong way … this article explains why [“Why Jupiter’s storms have us in a spin”](http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/space/why-jupiters-storms-have-us-in-a-spin/news-story/77fa22b43baaa927c79434c0414cd978) … ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jupiters-great-red-spot-always-there/152801/15 "2018-02-23T18:44:23Z")
Wouldn’t you know it, it’s got its very own Wiki article: [Great Red Spot - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Red_Spot) ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jupiters-great-red-spot-always-there/152801/16 "2018-02-23T20:22:32Z")
I remember when 3 Earths could fit in the spot. Now I feel old. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2018, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jupiters-great-red-spot-always-there/152801/17 "2018-02-25T04:53:11Z")
[![](https://image.spreadshirtmedia.com/image-server/v1/compositions/P1010492001T210A4PC1017544402PA330PT17/views/1,width=800,height=800,appearanceId=4,backgroundColor=E8E8E8,version=1485256808/back-in-my-day-we-had-nine-planets-men-s-t-shirt.jpg) ](https://image.spreadshirtmedia.com/image-server/v1/compositions/P1010492001T210A4PC1017544402PA330PT17/views/1,width=800,height=800,appearanceId=4,backgroundColor=E8E8E8,version=1485256808/back-in-my-day-we-had-nine-planets-men-s-t-shirt.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jupiters-great-red-spot-always-there/152801/18 "2018-02-26T08:01:38Z")
See that’s the trouble when you build something up by naming it ‘great’, then it turns out to be not-so-great. Like Alexander the Quite-Effective. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jupiters-great-red-spot-always-there/152801/19 "2018-02-26T15:34:47Z")
Or Pretty Good Britain. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jupiters-great-red-spot-always-there/152801/20 "2018-02-26T15:49:49Z")
I shudder to think what it might have been that was replaced by ‘Greater Manchester’ 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jupiters-great-red-spot-always-there/152801.md?page=2)