The Great Red Spot was first observed in the 16th century, so we know that it's at least 400 years old, but it could be much older.


This gigantic storm looks like a hole surrounded by swirling clouds, but it's in fact a plateau, located at the higher altitudes of Jupiter's atmosphere.

White ovals can be found all around Jupiter. They are groups of white clouds, swirling like the Great Red Spot but smaller.


These white ovals are very dynamic, they can change shape, move around the atmosphere, collide and merge with other white ovals to form larger ones.


Compared to the Great Red Spot, they don't survive for too long. We've observed they can swirl around for about 40 years before disappearing.

The Great Red Spot and white ovals are examples of Anticyclonic storms, these are high pressure storms that spin counterclockwise on the southern hemisphere.


The velocity of Jupiter's spin (2.5 times faster than earth) along with temperature variations on it's atmosphere, present some of the factors that allow the creation of storms and gas patterns across it's surface.