The two biggest storms in the solar system are about to collide on Jupiter, in plain view of backyard telescopes. The Great Red Spot, and Oval B (aka Red Jr) are on a close encounter course around the 4th of July. There won't be a head-on collision, The Great Red Spot is not going to 'eat' Oval BA or anything like that. But the storms' outer bands will pass quite close to one another and no one knows exactly what will happen.
Storm #1 is the Great Red Spot, twice as wide as Earth itself, with winds blowing 350 mph. The behemoth has been spinning around Jupiter for hundreds of years. Storm #2 is Oval B, also known as "Red Jr.," a youngster of a storm only six years old. Compared to the Great Red Spot, Red Jr. is half-sized, able to swallow Earth merely once, but it blows just as hard as its older cousin.
Jupiter will be an interesting object to watch in the coming weeks. What will actually happen? We'll see, that's what telescopes are for.
- Log in to post comments