What is the name of the anticyclonic feature on Jupiter known as 'Oval BA'?

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The anticyclonic feature on Jupiter known as Oval BA is commonly called Red Spot Junior.

Oval BA is a large storm in Jupiter’s South Temperate Belt. It became recognizable as a single feature in 2000 after three long-lived white oval storms merged. The designation “BA” reflects the historical identities of the merging ovals and the intermediate storm that formed during the process.

The feature was originally white, like its predecessors. In 2005–2006, it changed to a reddish color similar to Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, prompting the informal nickname Red Spot Junior or Red Jr. Scientists have proposed that material lifted from deeper atmospheric layers may undergo chemical changes under sunlight, but the exact cause of the color remains unsettled.

Red Spot Junior is not the Great Red Spot: both are anticyclonic storms, but the Great Red Spot is much larger and has been observed for centuries. “White Oval” describes Oval BA’s earlier appearance, not its best-known later nickname.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

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