The Great Red Spot is a swirling anticyclonic storm that has been raging through Jupiter for centuries. It has been recorded and seen for years and now analysis of the data is showing that the storm is losing ground.

Apparently at one time the Great Red Spot was large enough for three Earths to fit inside it, but now the size has drastically reduced. It is now the width of merely one Earth. Researchers are now trying to figure what is causing the storm to lose it’s mammoth size.

Is there some unrecorded activity on Jupiter that is causing the energy from the storm to be drained? We don’t know for sure. However, the Great Red Spot is at it’s smallest recorded dimensions since 1930.  It’s diameter is now approximately 10,250 miles across.

Also the shape of the trademark red spot has changed from an oval to a circle. The waist of the Great Red Spot is losing 580 miles per year. Observations from the Hubble telescope have found small eddies feeding into the storm and these may be responsible for changing the internal dynamics of the storm.

It will make an interesting science project to find out exactly how the Great Red Spot has shrunk over the years. It may even shed light on why it is currently shrinking so much faster than ever before.