The JunoCam thermal imager, installed on the Juno spacecraft (overseen by the NASA space agency), has made a stunning image of Jupiter's northern latitudes. The photo was taken on December 11, 2016 at 8:47 am Moscow time, while the spacecraft flew 16,600 km above the clouds of Jupiter.
An excellent view of the northern temperate gas giant reveals NN-LRS-1, a giant storm known as the Lesser Red Spot (bottom left). This storm is the third largest anticyclonic reddish oval on the planet that observers from Earth have seen for the past 23 years.
An anticyclone is a weather phenomenon with large-scale circulation of winds around a central region of high atmospheric pressure. They rotate clockwise in the northern hemisphere, and counterclockwise in the southern hemisphere. The Lesser Red Spot is not very bright and has a pale brown marker in the center. JunoCam raw images are available to the public at: www.missionjuno.swri.edu/junocam
