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Ref : S02116
Theme :
Moons and planets (174 images)
Title : ANCIENT STORM IN THE ATMOSPHERE OF JUPITER
Caption :
ANCIENT STORM IN THE ATMOSPHERE OF JUPITER. When 17th-century astronomers first turned their telescopes to Jupiter, they noted a conspicuous reddish spot on the giant planet. This Great Red Spot is still present in Jupiter's atmosphere, more than 300 years later. It is now known that it is a vast storm, spinning like a cyclone. Unlike a low-pressure hurricane in the Caribbean Sea, however, the Red Spot rotates in a counterclockwise direction in the southern hemisphere, showing that it is a high-pressure system. Winds inside this Jovian storm reach speeds of about 270 mph. The Red Spot is the largest known storm in the Solar System. With a diameter of 15,400 miles, it is almost twice the size of the entire Earth and one-sith the diameter of Jupiter itself.
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