[ ASTRONOMY ] Jupiter\'s Great Red Spot The GRS rotates completely in six days.

Question

[ASTRONOMY] Jupiter's Great Red Spot

The GRS rotates completely in six days.

(a) If the spot is circular (not quite true, but a reasonable approximation for this matter) and 31,000 km in diameter, what are the wind speeds at the outer edges of the storm? Give you answer in km/hr. (Hints: Speed = distance÷time. How far does does a cloud on the edge of the spot move in one rotation? )

(b) How do these speeds compare with winds in terrestrial hurricanes where wind speeds can be 120 mph = 200 km/hr?

Explanation / Answer

GRS rotates completely in six days.

Time = 6 days = 6 * 24 hours = 144 hours

Diameter =31,000 km

Perimeter of  circular spot = pi * D = 3.14* 31,000 km = 97340 km

a) The wind speeds at the outer edges of the storm =Dstance/ Time

= 97340 km/ 144 hours

= 675.97 km/hr

b) We found the wind speeds at the outer edges of the storm = 675.97 km/hr

Winds in terrestrial hurricanes = 200 km/hr

We observe that the wind speeds at the outer edges of the storm are 675.97 / 200 = 3.38 times   greater than the   Wind speeds in terrestrial hurricanes .

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