JunoCam Images of Europa, Before and After

This pair of images shows the same portion of Jupiter's moon Europa before and after it was processed. The original (minimally processed) image, left, was captured by JunoCam, the public engagement camera aboard NASA's Juno spacecraft, during the mission's close flyby on Sept. 29, 2022. Captured at an altitude of 945 miles (1,521 kilometers) above a region of the moon called Annwn Regio, it was minimally processed.

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.

In processing raw images taken by JunoCam, members of the public create deep-space portraits of the Jovian moon that aren't only awe-inspiring but also worthy of further scientific scrutiny. Juno citizen scientists have played an invaluable role in processing the numerous JunoCam images obtained during science operations at Jupiter.

More information about NASA citizen science can be found at https://science.nasa.gov/citizenscience and https://www.nasa.gov/solve/opportunities/citizenscience.

JunoCam's raw images are available for the public to peruse and process into image products at https://missionjuno.swri.edu/junocam/processing.

More information about Juno is at https://www.nasa.gov/juno and https://missionjuno.swri.edu.