Watch: NASA Spacecraft To Capture Jupiter's Great Red Spot

NEW YORK, NY — NASA's Juno spacecraft will capture close-range images of Jupiter's Great Red Spot Monday night as it flies above the mysterious storm at around 9:55 p.m. Eastern. These shots could bring us more detailed information about one of the solar system's most perplexing phenomena.

"Jupiter's mysterious Great Red Spot is probably the best-known feature of Jupiter," said Scott Bolton, principal investigator of Juno at San Antonio's Southwest Research Institute. "This monumental storm has raged on the solar system's biggest planet for centuries. Now, Juno and her cloud-penetrating science instruments will dive in to see how deep the roots of this storm go, and help us understand how this giant storm works and what makes it so special."

The researchers believe we should see the photographs of the spot by July 14. (For more national stories, subscribe to the Across America Patch and receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Here's what you should know about the Great Red Spot:

• It's more than 10,000 miles wide
• The storm was first discovered in 1830
• Scientists believe it has existed for 350 years

"The success of science collection at Jupiter is a testament to the dedication, creativity and technical abilities of the NASA-Juno team," said Rick Nybakken, project manager for Juno from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "Each new orbit brings us closer to the heart of Jupiter's radiation belt, but so far the spacecraft has weathered the storm of electrons surrounding Jupiter better than we could have ever imagined."

Juno's flight began on Aug. 5, 2011. To collect data on Jupiter, it flies just above the planet's highest clouds, coming within 2,100 miles above the gas giant. When it passes over the Great Red Spot, it will be 5,600 miles above the centuries-old storm.

Watch simulation of the spacecraft's journey below:

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute