What is at the center of Jupiter?

At the very center of Jupiter is its dense core. Surrounding the core is a vast region made up of hydrogen. But it’s not a gas. The pressure and temperature transforms the hydrogen into an exotic form of liquid metallic hydrogen, similar to the liquid mercury you’d see in a thermometer.

What is the cause of the Great Red Spot on Jupiter?

The source of the red coloration is unknown; suggestions range from compounds of sulfur and phosphorus to organic material, any of which could be produced by lightning discharges or by high-altitude photochemical reactions. The Great Red Spot extends well above Jupiter’s main cloud layers.

What is the red swirl on Jupiter?

Jupiter is well-known for being the biggest planet in our solar system, and it’s also home to the biggest storm. It’s called the Great Red Spot, an enormous vortex that has been swirling for centuries. “It’s basically clouds,” says Paul Byrne, a planetary scientist at Washington University in St. Louis.

Will the Great Red Spot ever stop?

In 2019, the Great Red Spot began “flaking” at its edge, with fragments of the storm breaking off and dissipating. The shrinking and “flaking” fueled concern from some astronomers that the Great Red Spot could dissipate within 20 years.

Does diamonds rain on Jupiter?

New research by scientists apparently shows that it rains diamonds on Jupiter and Saturn. According to the research lightning storms on the planets turn methane into soot which hardens into chunks of graphite and then diamonds as it falls.

Why can’t we say for sure how old the Great Red Spot is?

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot was first observed in 1831 by amateur astronomer Samuel Heinrich Schwabe, so we know the storm has existed for at least 150 years. But it could be even older than that.

Is Jupiter’s Red Spot fading?

“In the Voyager era, you could fit about three Earth across the Great Red Spot, but it’s been steadily shrinking and is now just bigger than the Earth,” said the paper’s co-author Amy Simon, a planetary scientist at NASA Goddard. Like all storms, the Great Red Spot is dynamic.