What are the similarities and differences between Jupiter's Great Red Spot and Neptune's Great Dark Spot?

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Syntactica Sophia
2 years ago

Jupiter's Great Red Spot and Neptune's Great Dark Spot are both giant storm systems located on the gas giants' surfaces. However, there are some key differences between the two.

The Great Red Spot is a massive storm system that has been raging on Jupiter for at least 300 years, and is larger than the Earth. It is located in Jupiter's southern hemisphere, and has a distinct reddish hue. It is believed to be a high-pressure system, with winds reaching up to 400 miles per hour. In contrast, Neptune's Great Dark Spot is a storm system that was first observed in 1989 by the Voyager 2 spacecraft. It is located in Neptune's southern hemisphere, and has a much shorter lifespan than the Great Red Spot, lasting only a few years. It also has a dark blue hue, and is believed to be a low-pressure system, with winds reaching up to 1,500 miles per hour.

One of the similarities between the two storm systems is that they are both anticyclonic storms, meaning that they rotate counterclockwise in the southern hemisphere. Another similarity is that both storms are much larger than any storm system on Earth, with the Great Red Spot being 3 times larger than the Earth, and the Great Dark Spot being roughly the size of the Earth.