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[30.25] Interaction of Jupiter's South Temperate Belt Ovals during the 1990s

R. W. Schmude, Jr. (Gordon College)

Ovals BC and DE begun approaching each other in 1988 and reached a minimum separation of 16 degrees in late 1989. The distance between ovals BC and DE went up and down by a few degrees throughout most of the 1990s. When these ovals transited the Great Red Spot in 1990, 1992 and 1995, they approached each other for several months before drifting apart. In 1997, ovals BC and DE approached each other but this time they merged forming oval BE in early 1998 instead of drifting apart. Meanwhile, the separation between ovals BE and FA went up and down between 1998 and 2000 before these ovals merged in March, 2000. These two ovals approached each other after they transited the Great Red Spot in late 1999.

Acknowlegedments: The writer would like to thank members of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers (A.L.P.O.) and the A.L.P.O. of Japan for the use of their images.

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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 37 #3
© 2004. The American Astronomical Soceity.