Oval BA

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Oval BA (top center)

Oval BA (commonly known as Red Spot Jr. or Red Jr.) is the South Temperate Belt (STB) spot of the planet Jupiter. Oval BA is currently half the size of the Great Red Spot and continues to grow.

1 Formation and discovery
2 Future
3 Current observations
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Formation and discovery

In the late 1930s, three ovals were discovered on Jupiter (namely: Oval FA, Oval BC and Oval DE). BC and DE merged in 1998 and formed Oval BE. Then, in March 2000, BE and FA joined together, forming Oval BA.

Formation of Oval BA

During August 2005, Oval BA slowly began to turn red as shown in amateur images. The change was not noticed at the time because it was slight and Jupiter was close to solar conjunction. The change was prominent on December 2005 after solar conjunction. On February 24, 2006, Filipino amateur astronomer Christopher Go discovered the change in color and alerted the ALPO Jupiter Section. Richard Schmude Jr., ALPO Jupiter Section coordinator, using the archives of ALPO Japan Kansai division confirmed the change. The color was still becoming more intense during these months. In March 2006, it was apparently the same color as the GRS.

Dr. Tony Phillips coined the term "Red Spot Jr." or "Red Jr." but professionals still call it Oval BA.

[edit] Future

In April 2006, a group of professional astronomers led by Dr. Amy Simon-Miller (NASA GSFC), Dr Imke de Pater and Dr Phil Marcus (UC Berkeley) used the Hubble Space Telescope to image both the Great Red Spot and Oval BA. Other professional and amateur astronomers have collaborated with this project by imaging the Great Red Spot and Oval BA from ground base telescopes. As of June 5, 2006, the team discovered that the Great Red Spot and Oval BA might converge, according to a report on the NASA Science website.

The storms pass each other about every two years, but the passings of 2002 and 2004 did not produce anything exciting. In July 2006, astronomers at Gemini North photographed a near collision between Oval BA and the Great Red Spot. The two storms once again did not converge.

The New Horizons fly-by of Jupiter (enroute to Pluto) in February 2007 will get the closest look at Oval BA for the first time as a red spot.

[edit] Current observations

Oval BA is getting stronger according to recent studies with the Hubble Space Telescope. The wind speeds have reached the 400 mph (645 kph) mark, which, according to NASA, is about the same as the Great Red Spot. Its current size is about the diameter of Earth.