14 DAY TRIAL // Hubble telescope has captured a series of images detailing the formation of a new giant storm out of the combination of three smaller storms. The new storm, named "Oval BA" or "Red Jr." is now half the size of the famous Great Red Spot and almost the same color.
Initially, when it appeared in 2000, the storm was white and it remained like that until November 2005, when it started to change its color. In December 2005 it was brown. Now it's finally red.
"Wow!" said Dr. Glenn Orton, an astronomer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, specialized in studies of storms on Jupiter and other giant planets. "This is convincing. We've been monitoring Jupiter for years to see if Oval BA would turn red - and it finally seems to be happening."
Many astronomers believe that the red color is an indication that the storm has gotten more powerful. The most popular idea is that the red color is a consequence of the fact that the storm brings to the surface materials from deep beneath Jupiter's cloud tops. It is supposed that there are some chemical reactions in the upper atmosphere catalyzed by ultraviolet light. However, no one knows for sure what are the exact chemical reactions involved or the nature of the materials brought to the surface from the interior.
"The Great Red Spot is the most powerful storm on Jupiter, indeed, in the whole solar system," says Orton. The top of the storm rises 8 km above surrounding clouds. "It takes a powerful storm to lift material so high," he adds.
Now it seems that Red Jr. might be starting to do something similar.
The storm is so big that it can even be seen by amateur astronomers - if they have a sufficiently large telescope. The photograph above was taken by Christopher Go from Philippines on February 27th using an 11-inch telescope and a CCD camera.
