(Before It's News)
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JUPITER CLOSE TO EARTH: Today, Dec. 3rd, Jupiter makes its closest approach to Earth until 2021. The giant planet rises at sunset–it looks like a very bright star–and soars overhead at midnight. If you have a backyard telescope take a look!
Everyone knows about Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, a giant anti-cyclone twice the size of Earth, but what about the great storm’s two companions? On the eve of closest approach, Glenn Jolly of Gilbert, Arizona, looked through his 14-inch telescope and saw three red swirls:
“The Great Red Spot was in full view along with its current associates”, says Jolly.
To the upper left of the GRS, the medium-sized storm is “
Red Spot Jr.,” also known as “Oval BA,” which appeared in the year 2000 when three smaller storms collided and merged. It is about the size of Earth. Red Jr.’s satellite storm is a more recent addition coincidentally about the size of the Moon. Together, the trio are easy targets for
backyard telescopes.
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