Jupiter's Great Red Spot is the largest storm in the solar system and is currently shrinking. A new study conducted by American scientists has revealed some of the reasons for the shape changes of the Great Red Spot. Simulation shows that without interaction with transient vortices, Jupiter's Great Red Spot would contract within 950 days. The relevant paper was published in the latest issue of the journal Icarus. The Great Red Spot of Jupiter is a red elliptical region located in the southern hemisphere of Jupiter. It rotates counterclockwise and exhibits the characteristics of a descending airflow, with a width exceeding 16000 kilometers. According to observations, Jupiter's Great Red Spot has been shrinking in the past 100 years, especially in the past 50 years: although its latitude range remains relatively consistent, its longitude range has narrowed from 40 degrees at the end of the 19th century to 14 degrees in 2016. Although scientists have conducted multiple studies on Jupiter's Great Red Spot, fundamental questions about its origin, lifespan, evolution, future, why it appears red, and why it is shrinking remain unresolved. Other research teams have conducted studies on the characteristics of long-lived ground anticyclones, indicating that they can maintain their size through interactions with transient eddies, suggesting that Jupiter's Great Red Spot absorbs smaller eddies. Based on these studies, researchers from Yale University and the University of Louisville used an explicit planetary isentropic coordinate (EPIC) model to conduct a series of 3D simulations of vortices similar to Jupiter's Great Red Spot. The EPIC model is a planetary atmospheric model developed by Dorian in the 1990s. Some of them simulated the interaction between the Great Red Spot and transient eddies of different frequencies and intensities; The control simulation ignored these small storms. By comparing simulation results, researchers have concluded that the presence of these transient eddies can enhance the Great Red Spot, leading to its enlargement. If there were no interaction with the transient vortex, Jupiter's Great Red Spot would contract within 950 days. (New Society)