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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 size, shape, brightness, color, and vorticity over a 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.

  • 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); Video: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

Downloads

  • 1920 × 1080, 30 FPS
    mp4 (5.48 MB)
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    mp4 (2.95 MB)

Related Images & Videos

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.

Close-up of Jupiter's Great Red Spot (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...

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 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)

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