NASA's Juno spacecraft captures a stunning image of Jupiter's iconic Great Red Spot
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It’s currently performing its 12th close flyby of Jupiter , and now NASA ’s Juno spacecraft has captured a stunning image of the iconic Great Red Spot.
The colour-enhanced image is a combination of three separate images taken on April 1, as Juno performed its 12th close flyby of Jupiter.
At the time the images were taken, the spacecraft was 15,379 miles to 30,633 miles from the tops of the clouds of the planet, at a southern latitude spanning 43.2 to 62.1 degrees.
Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is one of its most iconic features.
(Image: PA)
The spot is actually the biggest storm in the solar system , which appears as a deep red oval, surrounded by swirls of yellow, orange and white.
And while you might think that storms on Earth can be fierce, they’re nothing in comparison to the Great Red Spot, according to NASA.
Winds inside the storm have been measured at several hundred miles an hour.
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Since it was first discovered in 1831, the Great Red Spot has changed shape - and NASA has no idea how its appearance will change in the future.
Rick Cosentino, a researcher from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre, said: “If the trends we see in the Great Red Spot continue, the next five to 10 years could be very interesting from a dynamical point of view.
“We could see rapid changes in the storm’s physical appearance and behavior, and maybe the red spot will end up being not so great after all.”