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Hubble Snaps Baby Pictures of Jupiter’s “Red Spot Jr.”

Hubble Snaps Baby Pictures of Jupiter's "Red Spot Jr."

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is giving astronomers their most detailed view yet of a second red spot emerging on Jupiter. For the first time in history, astronomers have witnessed the birth of a new red spot on the giant planet, which is located half a billion miles away. The storm is roughly one-half the diameter of its bigger and legendary cousin, the Great Red Spot. Researchers suggest that the new spot may be related to a possible major climate change in Jupiter's atmosphere.

Dubbed by some astronomers as "Red Spot Jr.," the new spot has been followed by amateur and professional astronomers for the past few months. But Hubble's new images provide a level of detail comparable to that achieved by NASA's Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft as they flew by Jupiter a quarter-century ago.

Before it mysteriously changed to the same color as the Great Red Spot, the smaller spot was known as the White Oval BA. It formed after three white oval-shaped storms merged during 1998 to 2000. At least one or two of the progenitor white ovals can be traced back to 90 years ago, but they may have been present earlier. A third spot appeared in 1939. (The Great Red Spot has been visible for the past 400 years, ever since earthbound observers had telescopes to see it).

When viewed at near-infrared wavelengths (specifically 892 nanometers – a methane gas absorption band) Red Spot Jr. is about as prominent in Jupiter's cloudy atmosphere as the Great Red Spot. This may mean that the storm rises miles above the top of the main cloud deck on Jupiter just as its larger cousin is thought to do. Some astronomers think the red hue could be produced as the spots dredge up material from deeper in Jupiter's atmosphere, which is then chemically altered by the Sun's ultraviolet light.

Researchers think the Hubble images may provide evidence that Jupiter is in the midst of a global climate change that will alter its average temperature at some latitudes by as much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit. The transfer of heat from the equator to the planet's south pole is predicted to nearly shut off at 34 degrees southern latitude, the latitude where the second red spot is forming. The effects of the shut-off were predicted by Philip Marcus of the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) to become apparent approximately seven years after the White Oval collisions in 1998 to 2000.

Two teams of astronomers were given discretionary time on Hubble to observe the new red spot.

[Left] – This image, acquired April 8, 2006 with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys (high-resolution channel), shows that the second red spot has a small amount of pale clouds in the center. A strong convective event, which is likely a thunderstorm, is visible as a bright white cloud north of the oval, in the turbulent clouds that precede the Great Red Spot. As the oval continues its eastward drift and the Great Red Spot moves westward, they should pass each other in early July. This contrast-enhanced image was taken in blue and red light. The group that performed this observation was led by Amy Simon-Miller (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), Glenn Orton (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) and Nancy Chanover (New Mexico State University).

[Right] – Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys (wide field channel) took this image of the entire disk of Jupiter on April 16. The second red spot appears at southern latitudes, below the center of Jupiter's disk. The new spot is approximately the size of Earth's diameter. The image was taken in visible light and at near-infrared wavelengths, and does not represent Jupiter's true colors. The red color traces high-altitude haze blankets: the equatorial zone, the Great Red Spot, the second red spot, and the polar hoods. The Hubble group that conducted this observation is led jointly by Imke de Pater (UCB Astronomy) and Philip Marcus (UCB Mechanical Engineering). Other team members are Michael Wong (UCB Astronomy), Xylar Asay-Davis (UCB Mechanical Engineering), and Christopher Go, an amateur astronomer with the Astronomical League of the Philippines.

About the Object

  • Distance
    DistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
    The semi-major axis of Jupiter's orbit about the sun is 5.2 Astronomical Units (778 million km or 483 million miles).
  • Dimensions
    DimensionsThe physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
    The planet has a diameter of roughly 88,789 miles (142,984 km) at the equator.

About the Data

  • Data Description
    Data DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
    Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.
    This image was created from HST data from proposals: 10783: A. Simon-Miller (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), G. Orton (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), and N. Chanover (New Mexico State University) 10782: I. de Pater, M. Wong, P. Marcus, X. Asay-Davis (University of California - Berkeley), and C. Go, (Astronomical League of the Philippines).
  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    HST>ACS/HRC (left) and HST>ACS/WFC (right)
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    April 8, 2006 (left) and April 16, 2006 (right)
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    Jupiter, Red Spot Jr.
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Planet
  • Release Date
    May 4, 2006
  • Science Release
    Hubble Snaps Baby Pictures of Jupiter’s “Red Spot Jr.”
  • Credit
    NASA, ESA, A. Simon-Miller (NASA/GSFC), and I. de Pater (University of California Berkeley)

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Hubble Snaps Baby Pictures of Jupiter's "Red Spot Jr."
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

ACS/HRC (left): Blue: F435W Red: F656N ACS/WFC (right): Red-orange: F892N (near-IR strong methane band) Blue-cyan: F502N (continuum/cyan light)

Compass and Scale
Compass and ScaleAn astronomical image with a scale that shows how large an object is on the sky, a compass that shows how the object is oriented on the sky, and the filters with which the image was made.

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Details

Last Updated
Mar 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov