About

Jovian Vortex Hunter is a project on zooniverse.org that is created for studying vortex features in Jupiter’s atmosphere. The project uses images from the JunoCam instrument, on board the Juno spacecraft, which is currently orbiting Jupiter. JunoCam images have unparalleled resolution and have proven immensely valuable in providing high quality images of the jovian atmosphere. You can find the images from JunoCam on the Mission Juno website: missionjuno.swri.edu.

Given the volume of data that is generated by the JunoCam spacecraft, we will need human volunteers to sift through the images and identify features of interest. In this case, we are studying the different types of vortices that form in the jovian atmosphere, in an effort to understand how they form, and what causes the variety in shapes, sizes and colors.

Here are some examples of the different vortices that we see on Jupiter:

We are asking volunteers to identify which images have vortices, and to draw an ellipse around it and identify the central color. Finally volunteers will also identify the direction that the vortex is rotating. You can participate in the project by going to https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/ramanakumars/jovian-vortex-hunter/