
First Science Results from NASA’s Juno Mission - rgbrenner
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/a-whole-new-jupiter-first-science-results-from-nasa-s-juno-mission
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idlewords
The lifetime cost of this mission is $1.1B.

For the price of a space shuttle program, we could get 200 of these. ISS is
worth 100 of these.

If we're really serious about space exploration, robot probes and telescopes
give by far the biggest bang for the buck, and they go where no human being
can ever go. That Jupiter flyby would cook you like an egg.

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adrianN
Robotic missions won't make us a multiplanetary society though (neither does
the space shuttle...). I think that's important too.

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idlewords
A lot of us think that's a specious goal. Earth has oxygen, the food is good,
there's decent nightlife. And all my stuff is here.

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adrianN
Luckily humanity has enough resources to pursue multiple goals simultaneously

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idlewords
Not this one. To create an outpost off-planet capable of sustaining human
civilization at its current level in the event something happened to Earth
would consume our entire economic output for many years, if it were even
achievable.

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adrianN
Or it would consume a tiny fraction of our economic output for several
generations while maybe also throwing off some sweet tech that is useful back
here on Earth.

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aaron_m04
Do we have that long?

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adrianN
Who knows? Better get started sooner than later.

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bdamm
The failure of its main engine is going to turn out to be a blessing as
fabulous new Jupiter photography every 53 days could be a nice regular treat
for us space boffins.

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raverbashing
I hadn't heard about this failure, this explains a bit about it
[https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/02/02/juno-dives-over-
jupite...](https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/02/02/juno-dives-over-jupiters-
cloud-tops-with-main-engine-still-offline/)

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zmgehlke
Beautiful.

I find images of Jupiter absolutely stunning, and that the dynamics behind the
auroras is sophisticated (ie, something complex happening above the core) is
even more interesting.

I can't wait for Juno to bring us even more results!

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jansho
Do you know if these images have been colour-enhanced, like those photos of
glowing nebulae?
[http://www.imagingdeepsky.com/Nebulae/Horsehead/FullSizeJpg/...](http://www.imagingdeepsky.com/Nebulae/Horsehead/FullSizeJpg/Horsehead.jpg)

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anon1253
Enhanced color isn't exactly right. Most nebula images are done with Narrow
Band filters that only let a specific wavelength through. Typically those of
Hydrogen alpha, sulfur II and oxygen III emissions. This gives three
monochrome channels of data that you can combine however you please to RGB. Or
supplement with even more data from broadband R, G, B or luminance filters.
Not sure about the Horsehead image, could be a HaRGB or even Near infrared
composite. In the case of Juno there are 4 filters: R, G, B and a methane
filter (~840nm narrow band). The data you can map to RGB arbitrairly, usually
with a linear combination. It's just as much art as science

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jansho
Thanks. But excuse my dumminess, just need to get this right: so the three
channels of data can be converted into RGB to give the "shades" to make a
photo ... but you can pick a dominant colour filter, like blue, green or in
the Horsehead's case, pink?

I am mesmerised by Juno's photos but wondering if it's true to the human eye
(like as if we are there.) The photo caption hints otherwise [1] but I'm not
sure if my understanding is correct!

[1] _Multiple images taken with the JunoCam instrument on three separate
orbits were combined to show all areas in daylight, enhanced color, and
stereographic projection._

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DougWebb
Basically, each narrow-band filter gives you a grey-scale image. You can
assign whatever color you like to each of them, and then mix them to get a
color image. If you have filters for the Red, Green, and Blue wavelengths, and
then apply Red, Green, and Blue colors _of the same wavelength_ to the images
before mixing them, that'll get you as close to a true-color image as
possible. (That's essentially what's going on in your camera, for capturing an
image and then displaying it to you.)

Red, Green, and Blue are used because their wavelengths match the wavelengths
that the cells in our retinas are sensitive to. That allows cameras to
approximate human vision. But scientists use lots of other wavelengths too in
order to see specific things more clearly, like Juno's methane filter. Every
chemical gives off specific wavelengths of light when it releases energy, so
filters that are tuned to those wavelengths make it easier to detect those
chemicals. (I'm simplifying a bit here.) The false-color images you see from
these missions are designed to combine multiple filters (that aren't RGB) and
mix them using contrasting colors so that you can still see highlights from
each of the filters.

