The opposition of Jupiter, 1960

During 1960, there was a partial recovery of the Great Red Spot (GRS) and a nearly complete disappearance of the southern component of the South Equatorial Belt (SEB) and Red Spot Hollow. Since 1959, the GRS had moved significantly in increasing System II longitude. This motion continued during 1960, with an exceptionally long rotation period. The South Tropical Zone was extremely bright. A small, dark, near-stationary SEB Zone spot much resembled one seen in 1959. The SEB northern component was dark and intensely red. Since 1959, the strong reddish coloration of the Equatorial Zone had disappeared, but the southern part remained dark in the ultraviolet and showed a little visible colour. The entire zone remained dull. The southern edge of the North Equatorial Belt was very active. The North Temperate Belt was still extremely thin and faint, while the North North Temperate Belt had expanded southwards. Micrometric and photographic belt latitudes are presented in this paper, together with the only colour photograph ever to have been synthesised for 1960.