The Great Red Spot is the largest atmospheric vortex found in the solar system. Scientists have been observing the BKP for several centuries and notice how the vortex changes its size and shades.
The Great Red Spot is so huge that our Earth can easily fit into it (see the illustration below). The length of the gas vortex is 40-50 thousand kilometers, the width is more than 13 thousand. The height of the BKP above the surface of Jupiter is approximately 16.5 thousand kilometers. The wind speed inside the tornado exceeds 500 kilometers per hour.
Last July, the American spacecraft Juneau flew a record close to the Great Red Spot and captured stunning images of the monstrous atmospheric vortex. Unfortunately, they may be the last photographs of this alien miracle of nature. The BCP, which has existed since the 1600s by some estimates, is likely to disappear soon. Previously, scientists assumed that it would live indefinitely. There were good prerequisites for this. The fact is that the hot gases of the Jupiterian atmosphere constantly feed a colossal vortex, thanks to which it, in theory, could exist as long as the atmosphere of the largest planet in the solar system exists.
However, it has now become clear that the Great Red Spot is rapidly decreasing in size. 150 years ago the dimensions of the tornado were more than 4 times the size of the Earth, but now the width of the Jupiterian vortex is gradually approaching the diameter of our "blue ball". In addition, before the BKP was constantly in motion around the equator of this huge planet, but now it simply stands still. According to experts' forecasts, within the next 10-20 years, the vortex will acquire a round shape, and then completely sink into oblivion. After the disappearance of the Great Red Spot, Jupiter will turn into a planet without a highlight. However, this is not entirely true: in reality, there are plenty of all kinds of secrets and mysterious phenomena on this planet, another thing is that it is much more difficult for us, earthlings, to observe them, as for the BKP …
Victoria Prime