This image of Jupiter's white oval, BC, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, and a corresponding infrared image taken by the Galileo spacecraft. The infrared picture helps to show how what the temperature is like inside the oval. Click on image for full size (85K jpeg) Image courtesy of JPL/NASA

The clouds circulate around the center of the oval, much the way a hurricane circulates around the eye. More importantly, ovals are anti-cyclonic systems . This means that the air spins in the counter-clockwise direction, and the air in the oval is rising (updrafts), when they are in the southern hemisphere.

Although there are other white ovals in Jupiter's atmosphere, in recent decades there have been 3 which are considered to be classics. They are classic because they have been so long lived. They are named FA, DE, and BC, and they were born in 1939. You may ask, "where did the scientists get those awful names?". These three ovals have had a unique history which has lead to the names by which they are known today. After such a long time, two of the ovals, BC and DE, recently merged together (1998). What do you think scientists might name the newly merged oval: perhaps ABCDEF? Scientists have decided to call it BE.

This image of Jupiter's white oval, BC, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, and a corresponding infrared image taken by the Galileo spacecraft. The infrared picture helps to show how what the temperature is like inside the oval. Click on image for full size (85K jpeg) Image courtesy of JPL/NASA

White ovals can change their shape, migrate through the atmosphere, jostle each other for position, and even eventually merge with each other. Despite all of this, white ovals have been known to survive for 40 years or more in Jupiter's atmosphere. That means they are much younger than the Great Red Spot, which is at least 400 years old, but much older than any cloud feature found on the Earth.

The clouds circulate around the center of the oval, much the way a hurricane circulates around the eye. That is, ovals are known as anti-cyclonic systems the same way that a hurricane is considered to be cyclonic (circulating around). In the southern hemisphere, air in anti-cyclonic systems spins in the counter-clockwise direction. Air is also rising, just like inside a terrestrial thunderstorm.

Although there are other white ovals in Jupiter's atmosphere, in recent decades there have been 3 which are considered to be famous. They are famous because they have been around such a long time. They are named FA, DE, and BC, and they were born in 1939. You may ask, "where did the scientists get those awful names?". These three ovals have had a unique history which has lead to the names by which they are known today. After such a long time, two of the ovals, BC and DE, recently merged together (1998). What do you think scientists might name the newly merged oval: perhaps ABCDEF? Scientists have decided to call it BE.

This image of Jupiter's white oval, BC, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, and a corresponding infrared image taken by the Galileo spacecraft. The infrared picture helps to show how what the temperature is like inside the oval. Click on image for full size (85K jpeg) Image courtesy of JPL/NASA

White ovals can change their shape, migrate through the atmosphere, come close enough to "bump" each other, and even eventually merge together. White ovals can live for 40 years or more. That means they are much younger than the Great Red Spot, which is at least 400 years old, but much older than any cloud feature found on the Earth.

Although there are other white ovals in Jupiter's atmosphere, there are 3 which are famous. They are famous because they have been around such a long time. They are named FA, DE, and BC. You may ask, "where did the scientists get those awful names?". The names come from the way in which they were born. After such a long time, two of the ovals, BC and DE, recently merged together (1998). What do you think scientists named the newly merged oval: perhaps ABCDEF? Scientists have decided to call it BE.