All images: NASA
Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system — more than twice as massive as the other planets combined. According to NASA, if Jupiter was a hollow shell, 1,000 Earths could fit inside.
NASA says that the most powerful hurricanes recorded on Earth spanned over 1,000 miles across with winds gusting up to around 200 mph. But even this kind of hurricane is dwarfed by the Great Red Spot, a gigantic storm in Jupiter. There, gigantic means twice as wide as Earth.
With tumultuous winds peaking at about 400 mph, the Great Red Spot has been swirling wildly over Jupiter’s skies for over 100 years. While people saw a big spot in Jupiter as early as they started stargazing through telescopes in the 1600s, it was still unclear whether they were looking at a different storm.
Understanding the Great Red Spot is not easy, and it is also not clear why is it so incredibly long-lived. NASA has said that learning more about Jupiter and its Great Red Spot could help scientists understand Earth’s weather system better.