These images of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa were taken by the JunoCam instrument aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft during a close approach on September 29, 2022, and were processed by citizen scientists.
This view of Europa was captured by JunoCam during Juno’s close flyby on September 29, 2022. Citizen scientist Björn Jónsson processed the view to create this image. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Björn Jónsson / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
“Starting with our flyby of Earth back in 2013, Juno citizen scientists have been invaluable in processing the numerous images we get with Juno,” said Juno principal investigator Dr. Scott Bolton, a researcher at the Southwest Research Center.
“During each flyby of Jupiter, and now its moons, their work provides a perspective that draws upon both science and art.”
“They are a crucial part of our team, leading the way by using our images for new discoveries.”
“These latest images from Europa do just that, pointing us to surface features that reveal details on how Europa works and what might be lurking both on top of the ice and below.”
JunoCam took its closest image (above) at an altitude of 1,521 km (945 miles) over a region of the moon called Annwn Regio.
In the image, terrain beside the day-night boundary is revealed to be rugged, with pits and troughs.
Numerous bright and dark ridges and bands stretch across a fractured surface, revealing the tectonic stresses that the moon has endured over millennia.
The circular dark feature in the lower right is Callanish crater.
“Such JunoCam images help fill in gaps in the maps from images obtained by NASA’s Voyager and Galileo missions,” Juno scientists noted.
This pair of images shows the same portion of Europa before and after it was processed. The original (minimally processed) image, left, was captured by JunoCam during Juno’s close flyby on September 29, 2022. Citizen scientist Navaneeth Krishnan reprocessed the image to produce the version on the right. The enhanced color contrast causes larger surface features to stand out more. An example of the results can be seen in the lower right of this image, where the pits and a small rectangular block (reflecting more light than surrounding features) cast notable shadows. Small-scale texturing of the surface in the image needs to be carefully studied to distinguish between features and artifacts from processing, but the image serves both art and science by drawing us deeper into Europa’s alien landscape. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Navaneeth Krishnan S. / CC BY.
In the second image, the enhanced color contrast causes larger surface features to stand out more than in the lightly processed version of the image (left).
An example of the results can be seen in the lower right of the enhanced image, where the pits and a small block cast notable shadows.
Small-scale texturing of the surface in the image needs to be carefully studied to distinguish between features and artifacts from processing, but the image draws us deeper into Europa’s alien landscape.
“Juno’s citizen scientists are part of a global united effort, which leads to both fresh perspectives and new insights,” said JunoCam lead co-investigator Dr. Candy Hansen, a researcher at the Planetary Science Institute.
“Many times, citizen scientists will skip over the potential scientific applications of an image entirely, and focus on how Juno inspires their imagination or artistic sense, and we welcome their creativity.”
