Jupiter's Great Red Spot, Turbulent Atmosphere Revealed In New Hubble Image

Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have captured a stunning new image of Jupiter, showing several distinct bands in its roiling atmosphere, the famous Great Red Spot, and the lesser known “Red Spot Junior” — located further down south. The image, released Thursday, was captured on Monday, when Jupiter made its closest approach to Earth in a year, and just days before it came into opposition (during which it's positioned directly opposite the sun from Earth).

This confluence of cosmic events allowed Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 to snap a detailed photograph of the planet — one that shows features as small as 80 miles across in its atmosphere.

Read: Juno Snaps New Image Of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot

“With its immense and powerful storms and hundreds of smaller vortices, the atmosphere of Jupiter is divided into several distinct, colorful bands, parallel to the equator,” NASA said in a statement accompanying the image. “These bands, with alternating wind motions, are created by differences in the thickness and height of the ammonia ice clouds; the lighter bands rise higher and have thicker clouds than the darker bands. The bands are separated by winds that can reach speeds of up to 400 miles (644 kilometers) per hour.”

The most prominent feature in the image is, of course, the Great Red Spot — a persistent and gigantic storm that has been rumbling in the gas giant’s southern hemisphere for at least the past 300 Earth years. Since this vortex, which is large enough to engulf three Earths, was first spotted in 1664, scientists have noticed that it has been shrinking.

In 2015, images obtained using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope confirmed that the Great Red Spot was weakening, and was assuming a more circular shape. The images, taken over a span of 10 hours, also revealed the storm was contracting at a faster-than-usual rate.

“The reason for this phenomenon is still unknown,” NASA said. “Hubble will continue to observe Jupiter in hopes of solving this mysterious riddle.”

Previous observations made using NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy have suggested that the Great Red Spot is the result of upwelling gas that’s cooling the atmosphere. The belt zone structure near the equator, on the other hand, indicates that the equator is cold and surrounded by warm bands of sinking gas.