The Origin of Jupiter's Great Red Spot

Autor: Agustín Sánchez‐Lavega, Enrique García‐Melendo, Jon Legarreta, Arnau Miró, Manel Soria, Kevin Ahrens‐Velásquez
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: Geophysical Research Letters, Vol 51, Iss 12, Pp n/a-n/a (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1944-8007
0094-8276
DOI: 10.1029/2024GL108993
Popis: Abstract Jupiter's Great Red Spot (GRS) is the largest and longest‐lived known vortex of all solar system planets but its lifetime is debated and its formation mechanism remains hidden. G. D. Cassini discovered in 1665 the presence of a dark oval at the GRS latitude, known as the “Permanent Spot” (PS) that was observed until 1713. We show from historical observations of its size evolution and motions that PS is unlikely to correspond to the current GRS, that was first observed in 1831. Numerical simulations rule out that the GRS formed by the merging of vortices or by a superstorm, but most likely formed from a flow disturbance between the two opposed Jovian zonal jets north and south of it. If so, the early GRS should have had a low tangential velocity so that its rotation velocity has increased over time as it has shrunk.
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