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Great Red Spot has a companion

The Great Red Spot that has dominated the planet Jupiter’s cloudtops for hundreds of years now has a companion and it is nicknamed "Red Jr" and officially named Oval BA. It was first observed in 2000, when three smaller spots collided and merged. It is about half the size of the Great Red Spot and almost exactly the same colour.

At first, Oval BA remained white - the same colour as the storms that combined to create it. But over the past few months, it has started to change in appearance.

No one is quite sure why the Great Red Spot is red.

One theory is that the storm dredges material from deep beneath Jupiter’s cloudtops and lifts it to high altitudes. Here, ultraviolet rays from the Sun turn colour-changing compounds (or chromophores) red.

Oval BA may have strengthened enough to do the same, scientists say.

posted by: kyawoo at 21:25 | link | comments |
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