• Question: Why is there a red spot on Jupiter?

    Asked by heff04 to Colm, Eoin, Joseph, Lauren, Stephen on 12 Nov 2013.
    • Photo: Eoin O Colgain

      Eoin O Colgain answered on 12 Nov 2013:

      It’s either a birth mark or a giant atmospheric storm.

    • Photo: colm bracken

      colm bracken answered on 13 Nov 2013:

      Hi heff04,
      Great question! The red spot on Jupiter is the largest storm in the solar system. And we know it has been raging for at least hundreds of years as it was observed as it was seen by Samuel Heinrich Schwabe in 1831. What caused it to start spinning is not really known, but there are such strong forces in the atmosphere of the huge planet that storms of this size are not really a surprise. We know of another such huge storm on the planet Neptune called the Great Dark Spot. This one however seems to come and go, and even appear at different locations on the planet.

    • Photo: Joseph Roche

      Joseph Roche answered on 16 Nov 2013:

      Storms on Jupiter are the worst.

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