RED SPOT JR.

This website was created to cover Red Spot Jr.  Red Spot Jr. is basically the South Temperate Belt (STB) spot of Jupiter designated Oval BA. 

In the late 1930's, three ovals formed. These were designated as  FA, BC and DE.  BC and DE merged in 1998 formed the spot "BE".  On March of 2000, BE and FA merged, to form the oval "BA".

For the last 5 years, this spot has remained white like the 3 spots that produced it.  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 noticed the change in color and alerted 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.

On mid-April 2006, a group of professional  astronomers lead by Dr Imke de Pater and Dr Phil Marcus (UC Berkeley) used the Hubble Space Telescope to image both the GRS and Red Spot Jr.    While a group of amateurs will be collaborating with this project by imaging the GRS and Red Jr from the ground.  The group consist of Planetary imagers from around the world.   These are Dr. Don Parker (Florida), Jim Phillips (South Carolina),  Damian Peach and David Tyler (Barbados), Anthony Wesley (Canberra),  Paolo Lazzarotti and Tiziano Olivetti (Bangkok) and Christopher Go (Cebu City).  The group is supported by Dr John Rogers (BAA-Jupiter Section) and Hans Mettig  (of Jupos). 

Check out the April 8 image of Jupiter by the Hubble Space Telescope below.  More images at the Hubble Space Telescope Site

On July 14, the Great Red Spot (GRS) had a conjunction with the Red Oval BA.  So far, both spots survived unscathed.  The hallow of the Oval BA however was elongated just prior to conjunction but the aspect ratio of the red ring in Oval BA did not change.  Two observatories imaged this event. The Gemini-North Observatory and the W.M. Keck Observatory, both in Mauna Kea, took high resolution deep Infrared Images of the conjunction. Check out the images on July 14 and 21.

Our group has been awarded 4 orbits of the Hubble Space Telescope on February 2007 to image both red spots during the encounter of the New Horizons Pluto Express spacecraft with Jupiter.  The group will also plan to use the Gemini Observatory to image Jupiter in IR.

More images on Jupiter can also be seen on this site:

August 18, 2006

July 21, 2006

Keck Observatory (Pls Click Image for more details)

July 20. 2006

July 15. 2006

July 14. 2006

Please click image for more details.

July 6. 2006

July 3. 2006

June 21. 2006

June 14. 2006

June 13. 2006

June 12. 2006

June 11. 2006

June 9. 2006

June 6. 2006

June 4. 2006

June 2. 2006

May 30. 2006

 
May 28. 2006

May 26. 2006

May 21. 2006

May 16. 2006

May 11. 2006

April 21. 2006

April 19. 2006

April 17. 2006

April 15. 2006

 

April 14. 2006

April 12. 2006

By Damian Peach

April 9. 2006

April 8. 2006

April 7. 2006

 

 

April 4. 2006

April 1. 2006

March 31. 2006

March 30. 2006

March 28. 2006

March 26. 2006

March 25. 2006

March 21, 2006

March 18, 2006

 

March 5, 2006

March 4, 2006

February 28, 2006

February 27, 2006

February 24, 2006

February 2, 2006

Pre-discovery images of the Red Jr. compiled by Dr John Rogers:

December 9, 2005