WEBVTT 00:03.370 --> 00:05.100 What is the great red spot? 00:05.100 --> 00:21.180 It's a swirling mass of gas and colored clouds that is bigger than the earth. It's been around since the telescope was invented; maybe it's much older than that, even. 00:21.180 --> 00:27.240 People sometimes call it a hurricane but it's probably different from a hurricane in the way it works. 00:27.240 --> 00:34.290 There's no ocean underneath, and it's much bigger than a hurricane and doesn't have any intense eye at the center. 00:34.290 --> 00:39.420 The red spot is rolling like a ball bearing between two conveyer belts. 00:39.420 --> 00:50.360 Just to the north of the red spot, there's a westward moving jet stream, and just south of the red spot there's an eastward moving jet stream. 00:50.360 --> 00:56.370 Somehow the jet streams steady the red spot and keep it trapped at one latitude. 00:56.370 --> 01:07.560 There's no solid surface with which to measure your wind speed. It speeds up and slows down slightly. It's not anchored to anything - it's on its own schedule.