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NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Björn Jónsson

A citizen scientist Björn Jónsson used the data from JunoCam imager on NASA's Juno spacecraft to create an image of the gas-giant planet Jupiter's phenomenal Great Red Spot.

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The image was taken on July 10, 2017 at 10:10 p.m. EDT (July 11, at 7:40 am IST), while the Juno spacecraft was having its 7th close flyby of Jupiter from the cloud tops at a distance of 13,917 kilometres (8,648 miles) at a latitude of -32.6 degrees.

The image portrays the original colour of the Great Red Spot as well as its surrounding region, as it would appear to human eyes from the spot where Juno is located. A clear view of the stormy atmospheric zones present in and around the Great Red Spot is clearly noticeable.

Here are top 5 facts to know about the Great Red Spot:

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Jupiter's Great Red Spot is pictured in this handout photograph taken by NASA's Voyager. The Great Red Spot is a massive anticyclone -- a storm three and a half times the size of Earth -- located in Jupiter's southern hemisphere.Reuters

1. The Great Red Spot is an anticyclonic storm which is being analysed by the astronomers since 1830 and is said to exist for more than 350 years.

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NASA

2. The gas-giant planet's Great Red Spot is found to be 1.3 times wider than Earth. It is also known past 80 years that the feature is shrinking at a rate of 933.42km per year(580 miles per year), but it's not known whether the compression is temporary or permanent. As per the observations of the researchers, very small eddies are feeding into the storm, a NASA statement revealed.

The astronomers are still researching and formulating a hypothesis about the mysterious elements of this storm. 

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This composite, false-color infrared image of Jupiter reveals haze particles over a range of altitudes, as seen in reflected sunlight. It was taken using the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii on May 18, 2017, in collaboration with observations of Jupiter by NASA's Juno mission.Gemini Observatory/AURA/NASA/JPL-Caltech

3. According to the infrared data accumulated by the astronomers, the Great Red Spot is found to be colder than most of the other clouds present on Jupiter, due to its higher altitude.

Great Red Spot
This enhanced-color image of Jupiter's Great Red Spot was created by citizen scientist Gerald Eichstädt using data from the JunoCam imager on NASA's Juno spacecraft.NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstädt

4. The researchers are estimating that the reaction of the Sun's radiation with the ammonium hydrosulfide present in Jupiter's outer atmosphere leads to the deep red colour of the storm.

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This illustration depicts NASA's Juno spacecraft in orbit above Jupiter's Great Red Spot.NASA/JPL-Caltech

5. NASA released some magnificent pictures of the Great Red Spot on July 12, 2017. The images were taken by the unmanned Juno probe during a pass by, which provided the closest look of the iconic feature so far.

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