Exploring the Mysteries of the Cosmos: From Auroras on Jupiter to Black Holes and Beyond

Hurricane warning, people hiding.

The wind speed outside is over 75 mph, that sounds like a lot, but this storm is moving at 400 mph. Wait, do these speeds really exist? Yes, but to see a storm that fast, you'd have to travel to Jupiter. So, let the journey begin. The planet is huge, almost 1300 Earths could fit on this gas giant. It's also incredibly hot, with temperatures reaching around 43,000 degrees Fahrenheit at the planet's core. Unfortunately, it is not possible to land on the surface of Jupiter, as, being a gas giant, it does not have a solid surface. But it's possible to go deeper into Jupiter's atmosphere, watching these dense brown, yellow, red and white clouds pass by. They are responsible for giving the planet its colorful and striped appearance. If you continue descending towards the center of the planet, you will see its atmosphere, composed mainly of hydrogen and helium, becoming liquid due to the immense atmospheric pressure. The planet's core is a mysterious object, scientists still don't know whether it is a molten ball of thick liquid or a solid rock 14 to 18 times the mass of Earth.

However, exploring Jupiter is not the main objective of your trip. No, you came here to see the Great Red Spot. It's a huge storm roaring in the gas giant's southern hemisphere, with upper parts that rise more than 5,000 above the surrounding clouds. The storm is 1.3 times wider than our planet. In 2017, NASA's Juno space probe collected extensive data about the red spot, revealing that it extends more than 200 miles into the planet's atmosphere, 30 to 100 times deeper than any ocean on Earth.

These measurements are likely inaccurate, and the storm's true roots may extend even deeper. The Great Red Spot is colder than the rest of Jupiter's atmosphere, and, interestingly, the highest temperatures ever recorded on the gas giant occurred in the atmosphere just above the Great Red Spot. There, the heat reached 2,400 degrees Fahrenheit, hotter than lava on our planet. Astronomers believe that the turbulence caused by the storm can produce gravitational and sound waves that are responsible for this overheating.

The storm itself is hotter at the base than at the top. People have been watching this moving vortex on Jupiter for more than 150 years. Some time ago, astronomers predicted that it would gradually decrease in size or even disappear. However, when analyzing data from the Hubble Space Telescope, researchers were perplexed to discover that the winds at the outer edges of the storm actually increased in speed. The change in wind speed is small, about 1 to 2 mph during an Earth year, but no matter how small the difference, it means a lot. Wind speeds at the edges of the storm can reach an incredible 400 mph, faster than tornadoes on Earth. At the same time, if you were in the center of the Great Red Spot, you wouldn't be too impressed, as the winds there move much more slowly.

Scientists have faced many challenges when trying to understand the mystery that is the Great Red Spot. It's unclear what fuels the storm. It could be the nature of the planet where it originated, since Jupiter doesn't have a solid surface, there is no friction to weaken the storm. The hot gases in the planet's atmosphere are always in motion, rising, falling, rotating, just like on our planet, where colder and warmer air mix, forming large circular storms.

Astronomers believe that several huge storms may have come together and created the Great Red Spot, which continues to attract cold gases from below and hot gases from above, making it even more powerful. Unfortunately, the thick clouds on Jupiter don't allow astronomers to see what's happening in the planet's lower atmosphere. Scientists have speculated about what might be hidden beneath the Great Red Spot for decades. Could it be a massive volcano? Unlikely. Jupiter is composed mainly of gases and does not have a crust that could crack, releasing lava from the planet's interior. Additionally, there are theories that explain the storm's characteristic color, which ranges from white and pale salmon to bright orange and brick red.

Some scientists believe the answer lies deep within the Great Red Spot, closer to the planet's surface. A colorless layer of gas can react to ultraviolet radiation from the Sun, giving the storm its red color. However, so far, it is just a theory.

Jupiter isn't the only planet that can boast a giant storm. Another, as wide as our planet, occurs on Saturn and is called the Great White Spot. How cunning! The storm starts as a point, but then begins to stretch and extend. Astronomers have discovered that the Great White Spot is actually a massive thunder storm system. At the top of the storm, lightning can flash more than 10 times per second, but the biggest mystery about the Great White Spot is where it gets its energy. Some scientists think it may be powered by the sun.

Furthermore, this beige tone is the result of the combination of all the colors present in the electromagnetic spectrum. The light that permeates the universe is a mixture of different frequencies, and when all of these colors combine, the result is this cosmic hue known as "Cosmic Latte."

Changing the subject, did you know that Earth is not the only place in the galaxy to have auroras? Jupiter, for example, displays auroras at its poles due to the interaction of solar winds with the planet's atmosphere. These auroras are even more impressive than those on Earth, covering a much larger area and presenting intense colors.

Speaking of intensity, have you ever imagined a place where gravity is so strong that not even light can escape? We are talking about black holes, regions of space where gravity is so intense that nothing, not even particles of light (photons), can overcome this gravitational force. Black holes are true cosmic enigmas that defy our conventional understanding of physics.

But back to Earth, the planet once had an additional moon in its orbit, at least according to some scientific theories. A collision between Earth and a Mars-sized object called "Theia" is believed to have given rise to our Moon. This cataclysmic event occurred billions of years ago and shaped the system we know today.

And speaking of moons, did you know that Saturn's moon, called Titan, has lakes and rivers of methane and ethane on its surface? This intriguing moon is a target for space exploration, and missions like Cassini have provided valuable data about its unique features.

These cosmic wonders and many others continue to fascinate scientists and space exploration enthusiasts. As technology advances, new discoveries and cosmic mysteries are always waiting, making the universe an endless field of exploration and understanding.