Artwork of Jupiter and three of its satellites as seen from the satellite Amalthea. Amalthea was discovered in 1892 by the American astronomer Edward E. Barnard. It has an average distance from Jupiter of about 222,000 km. Due to its close vicinity to the planet Amalthea's surface has been distorted to a tongue-like shape with dimensions of about 270x170x150 km. The atmosphere of Jupiter is characterised by several white oval-shaped cloud formations. Right above Amalthea's horizon the Great Red Spot is visible. It represents a large hurricane in the Jovian atmospere and has been under observation since the 17th century.