“Dad, why does Jupiter have an eye?”
Her dad looks over at the open picture book. “That’s not an eye, buddy. That’s a storm.”
“A storm? Like rain?”
“Kind of, but way bigger and way angrier. It’s called the Great Red Spot. A giant storm, spinning around and around, going for at least a few hundred years. Maybe longer.”
“Hundred YEARS? Storms don’t last that long.”
“Not on Earth, no. Ours run out of steam in a few days, maybe a couple weeks at most. But Jupiter doesn’t have solid ground to slow it down, so it just… keeps going.”
“How big is it?”
“Big enough to fit two or three Earths inside it, side by side.”
“TWO Earths? In one storm?”
“At least. Maybe three, depending how you measure it.”
She stares at the swirling red circle for a second. “Is Jupiter bigger than Earth too?”
“Way bigger. It’s the biggest planet we’ve got. You could fit about 1,300 Earths inside it, if you packed them in.”
“Thirteen HUNDRED?”
“Thirteen hundred. Basically the biggest thing out there besides the sun itself.”
She goes quiet, looking at the picture again. “So that red spot, it’s just been spinning there. This whole time. Longer than grandpa’s been alive?”
“Longer. Probably way longer.”
She touches the page gently, like the storm might notice. “I hope it’s not lonely.”
Her dad smiles. “I don’t think storms get lonely. But I like that you’re worried about it.”
Now It’s Your Turn
Find someone to flip through a book with and see what you both remember.
- What is Jupiter’s Great Red Spot actually?
- About how big is it compared to Earth?
- About how many Earths could fit inside Jupiter itself?
(Whenever you’re ready: 1. A giant, centuries-old storm. 2. Big enough to fit two or three Earths. 3. About 1,300.)
Maybe tonight, find a picture of something huge and impossible, and wonder about it together.
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