Another look at Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, courtesy of Juno

6 August 2019 Astronomy Now

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot may be shrinking, but you wouldn’t know it looking at spectacular images captured by NASA’s Juno orbiter during close-range flybys. This stunning view was taken on 21 July, highlighting the contrast between the giant planet’s mostly white Southern Tropical Zone and the colourful South Equatorial Belt. And, of course, the Great Red Spot, the huge anticylone that has been routinely observed since the early 1800s and possibly earlier. At the time this photo was captured by the Junocam instrument, the Juno spacecraft was 42,965 kilometres (26,697 miles) above Jupiter’s cloud tops at 46 degrees south latitude. The image was processed by citizen-scientist Kevin M. Gill.

Jupiter and its Great Red Spot. Click the image for a zoomed-in view. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS; image processing by Kevin M. Gill

 

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