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Bad Astronomy
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That’s my boy!

I’m so proud.

He started small, not even as big as the Earth. But he ate two others like him, and now look! Wind speeds of 400 miles per hour, and such a healthy red glow!

I’m talking, of course, about Oval BA, a storm on Jupiter I have decided (with no evidence whatsoever) is named after me. It’s been around since 2000, but recent observations show that speeds are up and the color is deepening, indicating it’s getting stronger.

The Great Red Spot is centuries old, and has been seen to change shape and color due to forces not well understood. I can only hope that Oval BA lasts as long.

Steven Colbert might have an eagle named after him, but I have a Jovian storm as big as Earth. And that’s truthiness.

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October 12th, 2006 7:24 PM by Phil Plait in Astronomy, Cool stuff, Humor, NASA, Science | 21 comments | RSS feed | Trackback >

21 Responses to “That’s my boy!”

  1. 1.   Lorne Ipsum Says:
    October 12th, 2006 at 9:47 pm

    BA,

    I don’t know how to say this, but I’ve been talking with the guys about the spot. I mean, I hate to be the one to break the news — but just between you and me, Oval doesn’t look a THING like you.

    But don’t worry, I won’t tell a SOUL…

  2. 2.   Ken Says:
    October 13th, 2006 at 1:27 am

    I just Googled “BA” and got 314,000,000 hits. Your blog site was number 52 on their list. Gee, you really are popular. Steven Colbert only had 413,000. Way to go. And that’s Googleness!!

  3. 3.   Grand Lunar Says:
    October 13th, 2006 at 4:27 am

    I wondered what became of your storm, Phil.

    Truth be told, I’m not optimistic about it’s longevity. Sooner or later, the GRS might gooble it up.
    Still, doesn’t hurt to dream.

  4. 4.   Derek Colanduno Says:
    October 13th, 2006 at 5:04 am

    Dude!

    Since you have that funky ju-ju going on, and you had a minor hand in nameing a couple astroids after myself and Swoopy… does that mean we might all be in danger!? :)

  5. 5.   Michelle Rochon Says:
    October 13th, 2006 at 6:09 am

    Or who knows! The BA might gooble the GRS!! Like in the cartoons where the small thing eats the huge thing!

    …Hehehe.

  6. 6.   wolfe Says:
    October 13th, 2006 at 6:26 am

    Truthiness indeed. Thanks for your coverage, which I’ve cheerfully quoted. Great site, and storm on.
    -wolfe

  7. 7.   Gary Ansorge Says:
    October 13th, 2006 at 6:38 am

    Maybe the BA and the GRS will get together and reproduce.Then there wil be lots of little BAs. Darn, doesn’t it always happen just before the prom? Just when someone starts taking our picture,,,

    GAry 7

  8. 8.   Ed Minchau Says:
    October 13th, 2006 at 6:56 am

    Shhhh! Phil, don’t go mentioning that Oval BA is gaining strength! The birth and subsequent growth of an earth-sized storm on Jupiter implies an increase in energy received by Jupiter, and thus that global warming is in fact a solar-system-wide phenomenon. You might find yourself subjected to a Nuremburg-style trial:
    http://epw.senate.gov/fact.cfm?party=rep&id=264568

  9. 9.   Quiet_Desperation Says:
    October 13th, 2006 at 7:11 am

    You realize this is all jusr a precursor to a hydrogue attack, right?

    The red coloration is a signal, I tells you!

  10. 10.   DennyMo Says:
    October 13th, 2006 at 7:26 am

    Ed Minchau, you do realize that those “Nurmburg-style” trials were recommended by a global warming fanboy to be used against global warming skeptics, and not the other way around…

    I was just explaining the GRS to my 4 year old. Given his limited grasp of what “a really long time” is, I told him that the GRS was a thunderstorm that had been going non-stop since before his granddad was born. He was impressed. 8-O

  11. 11.   Irishman Says:
    October 13th, 2006 at 7:57 am

    DennyMo, I suspect Ed’s point was that if Global Warming is solar system wide, it can hardly be anthropic. Ergo, the AGW proponents would have the BA as a target.

  12. 12.   Grand Lunar Says:
    October 13th, 2006 at 7:57 am

    “You realize this is all jusr a precursor to a hydrogue attack, right?”

    What’s a ‘hydrogue attack’?

  13. 13.   Lorne Ipsum Says:
    October 13th, 2006 at 9:14 am

    According to Google, it’s a reference to a set of science fiction novels by Kevin J. Anderson. The Wikipedia entry says hydrogues are “powerful aliens that live within gas-giant planets.” See here:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saga_of_Seven_Suns

    Handy thing, the internet…

    Lorne

  14. 14.   Ed Minchau Says:
    October 13th, 2006 at 11:45 am

    Irishman, exactly. Thanks for clearing that up.

  15. 15.   Inoculated Mind Says:
    October 13th, 2006 at 8:57 pm

    Oval BA, sone of Dome BA. :)

    No really, its a solar panel for a skepticism machine.

    And my male-pattern baldness is just about to manifest too.

  16. 16.   yagimandoogie Says:
    October 14th, 2006 at 10:59 am

    Sorry to bust your bubble BA.

    BUT Oval BA stands for Oval Bomb Asteroids . Our super secret shadow government which is lead by Elvis Presley ( the first hydrogue to infiltrate planet earth ), came up with this name because the storm is gearing up to launch Frozen sulfuric acid asteroids at earth , that “they” ( the hydrogues) mined from Europa. This will happen on 2012 if we ( humans ) don’t give the hydrogues what they demand ( Philly Steak & Cheese Hot Pockets ) .

    Sorry I couldn’t let your misinformation office put its normal ” SPIN ” on this subject .

  17. 17.   Bootlady Teri Says:
    October 15th, 2006 at 3:05 am

    Well it IS a tempermental ‘little’ thing…obviously off it’s Ritalin. It appears as if baby BA is about to throw a temper tantrum and get all red and mysterious on everyone. What’s a baby storm to do but watch all of you human folk go kind of silly…even though it will outlive you entire lot – and revel in trying to copy it’s Big Brother.

    It always sucks being the younger sibling.

  18. 18.   idlemind Says:
    October 15th, 2006 at 10:21 am

    You know, Ed, Jupiter’s storms aren’t powered by solar heating, but rather by its high speed of rotation. For instance, the rotation of Jupiter’s polar atmosphere is about 5 minutes longer than that at Jupiter’s equator — that’s an enormous amount of atmospheric energy right there! Given that solar radiation is less than 4% as strong per unit area as on Earth, your suggestion is silly on the surface of it.

  19. 19.   Ed Minchau Says:
    October 17th, 2006 at 4:52 pm

    Idlemind, has Jupiter’s rotation suddenly changed? If not, then an increase in solar insolation is definitely not “silly on the face”.

  20. 20.   Jupiter Red Spot Jr Reddish and Reddish at Astronomy Notes Says:
    October 18th, 2006 at 11:31 am

    [...] The Jupiter Red Spot Junior is officially named Oval BA (Bad Astronomy?). It is getting reddish as its elder brother, the Great Red Spot. The wind is currently boasting at 640km/h. It just takes 1.5625 seconds to travel from the southest of Malaysia (Johor Bahru) to the northest (Perlis), roughly 1000km, imagine! [...]

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