Jovian vortex hunter catalog reveals stunning insights into Jupiter’s atmosphere
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 18, 2024
The Jovian Vortex Hunter project has released a groundbreaking catalog of 7,222 atmospheric vortices on Jupiter, showcasing immense swirling storms captured over the last two years. Each vortex represents a powerful atmospheric phenomenon within the gas giant’s turbulent skies, with thousands of volunteers contributing to this unprecedented effort.
Vortices are categorized by color, with “white” being the most common, followed by “dark” and “red.” The catalog also provides critical data on vortex distributions, including size, aspect ratio, and geographic positioning across Jupiter. Notably, findings reveal that white and dark vortices are predominantly located near the planet’s polar regions. This information enables researchers to better understand Jupiter’s atmospheric dynamics, offering insights into its internal processes and shedding light on planetary atmospheres throughout the solar system.
Over 5,000 citizen scientists helped build the catalog, performing over a million image classifications using data from NASA’s Juno mission’s JunoCam instrument. Their efforts have been published in the Planetary Science Journal, and further details are available in a newly released video on the Jovian Vortex Hunter Results webpage.
While the Jovian Vortex Hunter project has now completed its mission, volunteers can still explore JunoCam data through NASA’s ongoing JunoCam citizen science initiative.
Related Links
Jovian Vortex Hunter project
The million outer planets of a star called Sol
