"Red Spot Jr" A Filipino Discovery
Christopher Go, a 35-year-old Filipino started amateur astronomer since 1986 and an astrophotographer since 1990. He started during the apparition of Halley’s Comet when he was still in high school. He discovered the transformation of a high-pressure storm on Jupiter, the solar system’s largest planet. Go, a furniture company owner in Cebu City, gazes at and photographs celestial bodies as a hobby.
On February 24, 2006, Go observed that a white egg-shaped storm system in Jupiter called “Oval BA” changed its color to red, thus it was called “Red Spot Junior.” He used an 11-inch telescope and a CCD camera to capture the image. Later, he informed the Jupiter Section of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers of his discovery.
Red Spot Jr. Formation and Discovery:
Ovals BC and DE merged in 1998, forming Oval BE. Then, in March 2000, BE and FA joined
together, forming 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. The New Horizons team refer to it exclusively as the “Little Red Spot”-source wikipedia
To check other astounding astro images of Christopher go to this site.
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