Jupiter’s famous 300-year-old Great Red Spot is shrinking and new storms are appearing. Astronomers have been taking measurements of Jupiter’s storm wind velocity. A fluid dynamicist Xylar Asay-Davis of the University of California has determined that Jupiter’s Red Spot has shrunk about fifteen percent since 1996. Don’t worry about Jupiter’s landmark hurricane disappearing forever though, because in 2000 a new smaller storm has appeared southeast of the old Red Spot. The creation of the new storm, nick named “Red Spot Junior”, is due to the marriage of three oval-shaped storms between 1998 and 2000. The Red Spot Junior has since then turn red and is half the size of the original Great Red Spot. To add to the excitement a third storm has joined Jupiter’s atmosphere in 2008. The changes of the atmosphere is thought due be in response to a possible climate change on Jupiter.
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