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Close-up of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot (8-Panel)

Eight Hubble images showing Jupiter's Great Red Spot. The GRS appears as a bright red oval in the middle of cream-colored cloud bands. The images trace changes in the GRS's size, shape, brightness, color, and twisting, over a period of 90 days between December 2023 and March 2024.

Using Hubble Space Telescope data spanning approximately 90 days (between December 2023 and March 2024) when the giant planet Jupiter ranged from 391 million to 512 million miles from Earth, astronomers measured the Great Red Spot's size, shape, brightness, color, and vorticity over one full oscillation cycle. The data reveal that the Great Red Spot is not as stable as it might look. It was observed going through an oscillation in its elliptical shape, jiggling like a bowl of gelatin. The cause of the 90-day oscillation is unknown.

About the Object

  • Distance
    DistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
    On December 10th 2023 Jupiter was 4.21 AU from Earth (about 391 million miles or 630 million km); On March 8th 2024 Jupiter was 5.52 AU from Earth (about 512 million miles or 825 million km).

About the Data

  • Data Description
    Data DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
    Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.

    The HST observations include those from programs 16995 and 17495 (A. Simon). Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    WFC3/UVIS
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    December 10 and 28, 2023; January 6, 12, 31, February 12, 24, and March 8, 2024
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    F395, F502N, F631N
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    Jupiter
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Planet
  • Release Date
    October 9, 2024
  • Science Release
    NASA’s Hubble Watches Jupiter’s Great Red Spot Behave Like a Stress Ball
    Read the release
  • Credit
    NASA, ESA, Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

Downloads

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Eight Hubble images showing Jupiter's Great Red Spot. The GRS appears as a bright red oval in the middle of cream-colored cloud bands. The images trace changes in the GRS's size, shape, brightness, color, and twisting, over a period of 90 days between December 2023 and March 2024.
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the WFC3 instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. Several filters were used to sample medium wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: F395N, Green: F502N, Red: F631N

Related Images & Videos

Eight images of the giant planet Jupiter spanning approximately 90 days between December 2023 and March 2024. The planet appears striped, with brown and white horizontal bands of clouds. These stripes are called belts (sinking air) and bands (rising air). The polar regions appear more mottled. Astronomers measured the Great Red Spot (GRS) – a cherry red anticyclonic storm that appears at different longitudes in the southern hemisphere between exposures (because of Jupiter's rotation). Hubble was used to measure the size, shape, brightness, and twisting of the GRS. The observation is part of the observing programs led by Amy Simon of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

Full Disk of Jupiter (8-Panel)

Using Hubble Space Telescope data spanning approximately 90 days (between December 2023 and March 2024) when the giant planet Jupiter ranged from 391 million to 512 million miles from Earth, astronomers measured the Great Red Spot's size, shape, brightness, color, and vorticity...

This time-lapse movie is assembled from Hubble Space Telescope observations spanning approximately 90 days between December 2023 and March 2024, when the giant planet ranged from 391 million to 512 million miles from Earth.

Jupiter Great Red Spot Movie

This time-lapse movie is assembled from Hubble Space Telescope observations spanning approximately 90 days (between December 2023 and March 2024) when the giant planet Jupiter ranged from 391 million to 512 million miles from Earth. Astronomers measured the Great Red Spot's...

This animated diagram shows the position of Earth relative to Jupiter during a period spanning approximately 90 days (between December 2023 and March 2024) when the giant planet Jupiter ranged from 391 million to 512 million miles from Earth. During this period the Hubble Space telescope monitored changes in Jupiter’s atmosphere as part of the Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy program (OPAL). Jupiter’s orbital period is approximately 12 years. The angular size of the planet shrinks in Hubble’s view, as faster-moving Earth pulls ahead of the giant planet.

Observations of Jupiter Over Time

This animated diagram shows the position of Earth relative to Jupiter during a period spanning approximately 90 days (between December 2023 and March 2024) when the giant planet Jupiter ranged from 391 million to 512 million miles from Earth. During this period the Hubble Space...

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Details

Last Updated
Mar 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

Science Credit

NASA, ESA, Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC)

Image Processing Credit

Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

Related Terms

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