Transit Times of Jupiter's Great Red Spot

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"Great Red Spot"

Transit Times of Jupiter's Great Red Spot
Calculate the best times to see the Great Red Spot.

Jupiter as seen by the Cassini spacecraft

Jupiter as seen from Mars -- courtesy of the HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The HiRISE camera - the most powerful telescope beyond Earth orbit - is good for astronomy as well as detailed pictures of Mars. In this image south is at the bottom, the opposite view in many astronomical telescopes.
(Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

The Great Red Spot is a persistent anticyclonic storm on the planet Jupiter, 22° south of the equator, which has lasted for at least 176 years, and possibly as long as 340 years. The storm is large enough to be visible through Earth-based telescopes. It was probably first observed by Giovanni Domenico Cassini, who described it around 1665.

The Great Red Spot can sometimes be difficult to see. It appears slightly more distinct when Jupiter is viewed through a light green or blue filter.


Please enter a date: (mm/dd/yyyy)
Universal Times of Red Spot transits centred on date:	Corresponding local dates & times of Red Spot transits:
Note: local times are based on a time zone offset of hour(s) from UT as given by your Web browser.

Above is a you can use the calculator to predict the local and Universal Times and dates when the centre of the Great Red Spot should cross the centre of Jupiter's disk. Click on "Activate" to see the dates and times of the next three transits of the GRS. You can alternatively enter a date to find future transit times. The calculated times should be accurate to within a few minutes.

The predicted times assume that the Red Spot is at Jovian System II longitude 80°. If it has migrated to the east or west, it will transit 1 ⅔ minutes later for every 1° of longitude greater than 80° or 1 ⅔ minutes early for every 1° less than 80°.

Features on Jupiter appear closer to the central meridian than to the limb — and thus are well placed for viewing — for 50 minutes before and after their transit times.

Features on Jupiter can be seen with small telescopes of 60mm.
Click here for Telescope Calculator.

The planet Jupiter is a source of huge radio storms. Click the link to hear the live audio stream (24k), (128k)

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