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Scientists claim great red spot on Jupiter is not dying


It has been observed over the years that clouds in Jupiter’s Great Red Spot have been shrinking, but that doesn’t mean that the spot itself is affected. According to a new study, there is no evidence that indicates changes in the size or intensity of the vortex storm.

The Great Red Spot (GRS) is the largest storm in the Solar System that is believed to be at least 350 years old. Previous studies have indicated that the storm has been shrinking. However, researchers from the University of California at a conference of the American Physical Society's Division of Fluid Dynamics presented that there is no evidence of any change in the storm.

Philip Marcus and the team in their session, ‘The Shedding of Jupiter's Red Flakes Does Not Mean It Is Dying’ at the 72nd Annual Meeting of APS explained that the true nature of vortex is obscured by the visible clouds.

According to the abstract of the session, scientists came up with their hypothesis through 3D numerical simulations. They found that the GRS on Jupiter has two boundaries both of which do not coincide with the boundaries of the visible clouds.

In earlier reports, the red flakes were thought to have been ripped away from the GRS that was causing its apparent demise. But researchers think the flaking of GRS is caused due to the shrinking of the area between the two distinct boundaries of the GRS. The shrinking of the area creates stagnation points, where the velocity acts abruptly and shatters clouds to create the red flakes.

Marcus said, the loss of undigested clouds from the GRS through encounters with stagnation points does not signify the demise of the GRS.

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