You can help analyze Juno images of Jupiter’s clouds

By Georgina Torbet Published June 26, 2022

Some of the most stunning images of Jupiter have been captured by the Juno probe, which has been in orbit around the planet since 2016. And many of these images have investigated Jupiter’s strange atmosphere, including peering through the atmosphere’s many layers. Now, a citizen scientist project is inviting members of the public to help with this work, by identifying atmospheric features in Juno data.

The project from researchers at the University of Minnesota and NASA is called Jovian Vortex Hunter and aims to categorize the different types of clouds seen at Jupiter, in terms of their shapes and sizes. It takes data from Juno’s JunoCam imager and asks volunteers to look for specific features called atmospheric vortices. These clouds have a particular round or elliptical shape, similar to how a hurricane appears when seen from above.

An image of the 22nd orbit of the Juno spacecraft around Jupiter shows the region close to the north pole of the planet. — An image of the 22nd orbit of the Juno spacecraft around Jupiter shows the region close to the north pole of the planet. There is a huge diversity in the colors and shapes of these vortices (hurricane-like storms). Scientists need to create a catalog of these storms in order to understand how they form. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/SwRI/Ramanakumar Sankar

By asking for help from the public, the researchers can work through the data much quicker than they could on their own. “There are so many images that it would take several years for our small team to examine all of them,” said Ramanakumar Sankar, leader of the project, in a statement. “We need help from the public to identify which images have vortices, where they are and how they appear. With the catalog of features (particularly vortices) in place, we can study the physics behind how these features form, and how they are related to the structure of the atmosphere, particularly below the clouds, where we cannot directly observe them.”

Recommended Videos

The project uses the Zooniverse platform to present images, which volunteers then scan for vortices. Once this has been done many times, the data can be used both for scientific analysis and for training an algorithm to work on feature identification as well.

And if you’re wondering what happens if someone has difficulty identifying a feature, or different volunteers disagree about whether a feature is there in an image or not — that’s actually useful data for the researchers to have. “If one person is having trouble categorizing an image, maybe others will, too,” Sankar explained. “That might indicate that we have found something new or unique that we more closely examine.”

To participate in the project, you can head to the Jovian Vortex Hunter website.

Topics

Tech News

Georgina Torbet

Space Writer

Georgina has been the space writer at Digital Trends space writer for six years, covering human space exploration, planetary…

Space

NASA’s Juno spacecraft to pass within 1,000 miles of volcanic moon Io

This image revealing the north polar region of the Jovian moon Io was taken on October 15 by NASA’s Juno. Three of the mountain peaks visible in the upper part of image, near the day-night dividing line, were observed here for the first time by the spacecraft’s JunoCam.

NASA's Juno spacecraft, currently in orbit around Jupiter, will soon be making a close flyby of one of the planet's most dramatic moons, Io. On Saturday, December 30, Juno will come within 1,000 miles of Io, making it the closest spacecraft to that moon in the last 20 years.

Io is an intriguing place because it shows signs of significant volcanic activity, making it the most geologically active body in the solar system. It hosts over 400 active volcanoes, which periodically erupt due to hot magma inside the moon created by friction caused by the gravitational pull between Jupiter and its other large moons.

Space

NASA project turns images of space into music you can play

Composite X-ray, Optical, & Infrared Image of the Galactic Center.

For several years, NASA has been producing sonifications in which images of space are turned into soundscapes so that they can be enjoyed both by people who are vision impaired and by a general audience who are interested in experiencing space in a new way. Now, NASA has taken this concept one step further by turning an image of space into an original composition to be performed by a group of musicians.

The image used as the basis for the compositions is of the center of the Milky Way galaxy, a bustling region of gas filaments, X-rays, and a supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A*. The image combines data from Chandra, Hubble, and Spritzer to bring together data from the X-ray, visible light, and infrared wavelengths.

Space

Hubble captures a stunning ultraviolet image of Jupiter

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope reveals an ultraviolet view of Jupiter.

You can now see Jupiter in a whole new way, thanks to a new image from the Hubble Space Telescope. Showing the planet in the ultraviolet wavelength, the image highlights the planet's Great Red Spot -- an enormous storm larger than the width of the entire Earth that has been raging for hundreds of years.

The image was released in celebration of Jupiter reaching opposition, meaning it is directly opposite the sun as viewed from the Earth. That means that if you are a keen stargazer, now is a great time to go and look for Jupiter in the night sky as it will look its biggest and brightest.