QUESTION:
Where did the Great Red Spot come from?

ANSWER from Sean Colgan on October 16, 1995:
Jupiter's Great Red Spot was probably first seen in about 1665. 
It was named in 1878, when it became much more prominent. 
The Spot has a lower temperature than the surrounding bands, 
which shows that it is somewhat higher in Jupiter's atmosphere. 
The spot is actually just a whirlpool like those which form in 
streams or rivers, but much larger - it is bigger than the earth! 
Jupiter's atmosphere blows around the planet at speeds up to 200 miles 
per hour. It is in this wind current that the eddy which appears as 
the Great Red Spot formed. There are several ideas for what caused the 
eddy in Jupiter's atmosphere, and why it has lasted so long, but we 
really don't know the answer yet.