Space

The dramatic way our view of Jupiter’s giant red spot has changed over the past 138 years

In the eye of the storm.
In the eye of the storm.
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstadt
By
Akshat Rathi
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A humongous storm has been raging on Jupiter for at least (and possibly much more than) 350 years. At its observed peak in the early 20th century, the “Great Red Spot” stretched more than 40,000 km across the planet, big enough to engulf three Earths placed side by side. It is among the most-studied planetary phenomena, and yet we still don’t fully understand why the spot formed or why it has its deep red color.

This week, NASA’s Juno mission took the closest-yet images of the giant red spot. Quartz has collected archival images to show just how dramatically our view of this Jovial storm has changed over the last 138 years.

1879

One of the oldest photos of Jupiter.
One of the oldest photos of Jupiter.
Image: Agnes M. Clerke

1890

An 1891 photograph taken at the Lick Observatory, Mt. Hamilton, California.
An 1891 photograph taken at the Lick Observatory, Mt. Hamilton, California.
Image: Lesia/BDIP

1973

NASA’s Pioneer 10 sent these images on December 4, 1973. They were the first up-close photos we’d seen of the gas giant.
NASA’s Pioneer 10 sent these images on December 4, 1973. They were the first up-close photos we’d seen of the gas giant.
Image: NASA

1979

Time-lapse sequence taken by Voyager 1 as it approached Jupiter, showing the motion of atmospheric bands, and circulation of the Great Red Spot.
Image: NASA

1996

A roughly true-color image of the Great Red Spot of Jupiter as taken by the Galileo spacecraft on June 26, 1996.
A roughly true-color image of the Great Red Spot of Jupiter as taken by the Galileo spacecraft on June 26, 1996.
Image: NASA

2000

This true-color composite frame, made from narrow-angle images taken on Dec. 12, 2000 by the Cassini spacecraft, captures the Jovian moon Io and its shadow in transit against the disk of Jupiter.
This true-color composite frame, made from narrow-angle images taken on Dec. 12, 2000 by the Cassini spacecraft, captures the Jovian moon Io and its shadow in transit against the disk of Jupiter.

2008

The thermal image on the top here was obtained by the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile on May 18, 2008. The brighter the color, the hotter the gases. The image shows swirls of warmer air and cooler regions never seen before within the Great Red Spot. That pressure range is close to the altitude of the white, red, and brown aerosols seen in the visible-light image on the bottom, which was obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope on May 15, 2008.
The thermal image on the top here was obtained by the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile on May 18, 2008. The brighter the color, the hotter the gases. The image shows swirls of warmer air and cooler regions never seen before within the Great Red Spot. That pressure range is close to the altitude of the white, red, and brown aerosols seen in the visible-light image on the bottom, which was obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope on May 15, 2008.

2016

This image of a crescent Jupiter and the iconic Great Red Spot was created by a citizen scientist (Roman Tkachenko) using data from NASA’s Juno spacecraft’s JunoCam instrument.
This image of a crescent Jupiter and the iconic Great Red Spot was created by a citizen scientist (Roman Tkachenko) using data from NASA’s Juno spacecraft’s JunoCam instrument.
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Roman Tkachenko

2017

The closest-ever image of the giant red spot: This enhanced-color image of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot was created by citizen scientist Jason Major using data from the JunoCam imager on NASA’s Juno spacecraft.
The closest-ever image of the giant red spot: This enhanced-color image of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot was created by citizen scientist Jason Major using data from the JunoCam imager on NASA’s Juno spacecraft.
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Jason Major