Nasa takes first high-res pictures of Jupiter's most extraordinary feature

Telegraph Reporters
Updated
The Great Red Spot on Jupiter taken by the Juno Spacecraft on its flyby over the storm on Tuesday - AFP
The Great Red Spot on Jupiter taken by the Juno Spacecraft on its flyby over the storm on Tuesday - AFP

An American spacecraft has taken the first high resolution photographs of Jupiter's most extraordinary feature, after soaring close to the crimson cloud tops of the Great Red Spot.

Nasa's Juno probe passed just 5,600 miles (9,000) kilometres above the massive storm system which is wider than the Earth and may have been raging for more than 350 years.

The close fly-by was completed during Juno's sixth scientific orbit of the solar system's biggest planet.

The craft, which is specially strengthened to withstand Jupiter's ferocious radiation, gathered a wealth of data and images during the encounter which are being beamed to Earth.

A combination of views of the Great Red Spot - Credit: NASA/SWRI/MSSS AND NASA
A combination of views of the Great Red Spot Credit: NASA/SWRI/MSSS AND NASA

Juno principal investigator Dr Scott Bolton, from Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas, said: "For generations people from all over the world and all walks of life have marvelled over the Great Red Spot.

"Now we are finally going to see what this storm looks like up close and personal."

Jupiter's Great Red Spot from an altitude of 9866.1 km above Jupiter's surface - Credit: NASA / JPL / SwRI / MSSS / Gerald Eichstädt 
Jupiter's Great Red Spot from an altitude of 9866.1 km above Jupiter's surface Credit: NASA / JPL / SwRI / MSSS / Gerald Eichstädt

The 10,000 mile (16,000 km) wide Great Red Spot has been observed since 1830 but is thought to have existed for hundreds of years longer. In more recent times it has appeared to be shrinking.

Juno swooped close to Jupiter and passed directly above the Great Red Spot on July 10, said the American space agency.

An illustration of NASA's Juno spacecraft in orbit above Jupiter's Great Red Spot - Credit: NASA/Reuters
An illustration of NASA's Juno spacecraft in orbit above Jupiter's Great Red Spot Credit: NASA/Reuters

The spacecraft was launched on August 5 2011 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

On July 5 at 3.30am UK time, Juno logged exactly one year in Jupiter orbit, having travelled a total of 71 million miles (114.5 million kilometres) around the gas giant.

Early results from the mission have shown Jupiter to be a turbulent world with a complex interior structure, energetic polar auroras and huge polar cyclones.