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Why does Jupiter’s Great Red Spot rotate counterclockwise?

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photo of Jupiter taken by Voyager 1 — Jupiter Photograph of Jupiter taken by Voyager 1 on February 1, 1979, at a range of 32.7 million km (20.3 million miles). Prominent are the planet's pastel-shaded cloud bands and Great Red Spot (lower centre).

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is a massive anticyclonic storm system located in the planet’s southern hemisphere. Its counterclockwise rotation is primarily driven by the Coriolis force, an inertial force that influences the motion of objects and fluids within a rotating frame of reference.1234

Because Jupiter rotates, the Coriolis force deflects air currents moving toward or away from the storm's high-pressure center. In the southern hemisphere, this effect causes anticyclonic systems—which are high-pressure centers—to circulate in a counterclockwise direction. While the exact mechanisms governing the storm's long-term stability and energy source are still subjects of ongoing scientific study, the observed rotation is consistent with the dynamics of large-scale vortices influenced by the planet's rotation.3412