The Red Monster of Jupiter Could Be Over 480 km Deep and Capable of Swallowing Earth Whole.
A new statement from NASA, based on data from the Juno spacecraft, reveals that the Great Red Spot – Jupiter’s famous red storm is surprisingly deep. Despite having significantly shrunk in recent years, this red “monster” is still between 350 and over 480 km deep and has a diameter of 16,000 km.
New data about Jupiter shows that its red storm alone is capable of swallowing Earth whole – (Photo: NASA).
According to Daily Mail, a 3D model of the storm indicates that at this depth, it is powerful enough to engulf Earth and other rocky planets in the Solar System if our planet were to “bravely” venture close.
In a recent publication in the journal Science, Dr. Scott Bolton from the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), the lead researcher of the Juno mission, stated that in addition to the red storm, there are thousands of other gigantic storms raging in Jupiter’s beautiful “sea of clouds,” all deeper than initially expected.
This new discovery contributes to a broader understanding of how Jupiter’s dense atmosphere operates. As the closest gas giant to us, Jupiter serves as a “window” into a world of planetary forms that are distinct from worlds like Earth, which has an atmosphere primarily comprising the planet’s mass rather than a crust and mantle like ours.
Juno has completed a total of 37 flybys around Jupiter’s orbit and is currently working to measure the depth of the storms. Thanks to Juno, scientists have learned that the planet has an atmosphere rich in ammonia and water vapor. NASA has previously stated that this world may still harbor a “strange form of life” despite its stormy nature.
