MAPS OF JUPITER’S NORTH POLAR REGION

(1)  PJ1-PJ40

This page presents sets of polar projection maps of Jupiter’s north polar region from JunoCam. They are composite RGB maps from PJ1 to PJ40 (except for PJ2 and PJ19, when the northern hemisphere was not imaged). They are all in polar azimuthal equidistant projection with planetocentric latitude scales, at 10 pixels/degree.  All have L3=0 to the right.

The raw images were processed and map-projected by Gerald Eichstädt, then the single-image maps were composited by John Rogers in Adobe Photoshop, except for some of the later perijoves when G.E. experimented with an automatic assembly technique. There is some variation in format, especially for the early perijoves.  They cover as much as possible of the region >60°N, plus some lower-latitude areas (depending on how much time we had to assemble them). Most of them extend down to the equator or to 30°N at the edges.  In many cases a circle of 20°N latitude is included, or a larger extent of coordinates.

At the first few perijoves the longitude orientation was approximate (± 1-2°), as we deduced it from the apparent subsolar longitude before accurate navigation was established.  There are still small uncertainties in navigation so positions may be uncertain by a few pixels. Intensities and colour balance are arbitrary, and have been adjusted to reduce visible seams between images and to enhance regional contrast.  Therefore, any broad diffuse features should not be relied on without consulting the original single-image maps.

The maps are in TIF format in the ZIP files below.  Labelled versions can be found in the reports for each perijove posted by JHR on this web site and on the JunoCam web site (https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/junocam/think-tank).  A companion set of maps of the South Polar Region (PJ1-PJ26, down to 60°S) was posted 1.5 years ago (https://britastro.org/node/6846) & (https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/junocam/think-tank?id=50).

The maps are provided under a CC-BY licence: “The CC BY licence allows anyone to: copy, distribute and transmit work; adapt work; make commercial use of the work under the condition that the user must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests they endorse the user or their use of the work).”  I.e. these maps are in the public domain but should always be credited as indicated (NASA / JPL / SwRI / MSSS / Gerald Eichstädt / John Rogers); and we ask that anyone wishing to use them for research or commercial purposes would contact us first.

–John Rogers (2022 Aug.12)

Maps from PJ01-PJ10:   JunoCam-NPR-maps_PJ01-10

Maps from PJ11-PJ20:   JunoCam-NPR-maps_PJ11-20

Maps from PJ21-PJ30:   JunoCam-NPR-maps_PJ21-30

Maps from PJ31-PJ40:  JunoCam-NPR-maps_PJ31-40

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(2) North polar regional maps, PJ41-PJ72

The ZIP files below contain our north polar projection maps from PJ41-PJ72, and the notes above still apply except as follows.

There are still some variations in the scale and extent of the maps in the early perijoves in this set, but from PJ49 onwards, they are routinely presented down to 45°N at the edges, at 30 pixels per degree latitude.  Higher-resolution portions down to 70 or 75°N, showing the CPCs, are presented in a separate batch (see below).

Most of these maps were already presented, with labelling, in our perijove reports.  Maps for PJ43 and PJ53 were not compiled at the time but are now presented here. At a few perijoves from PJ48 onwards, some images were degraded or lost due to increasing radiation levels. There was no northern hemisphere imaging at PJ48 and PJ71, and images of the CPCs were not recovered at PJ61.

At some perijoves, maps were compiled as described for the previous batch. At others from PJ49 onwards, Gerald used a semi-automated assembly method, eliminating the need for manual compilation.

Most maps are presented in JPG format, to reduce file sizes, but TIF or PNG versions are available if needed.  An unlabelled map is presented for each perijove, and in some cases also a version with features labelled, from our perijove report.

–John Rogers (2025 July 15)

PJ41-PJ50_N-polar-maps

PJ51-PJ72_N-polar-maps

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(3) North polar cyclones maps, PJ41-PJ72

In addition to the north polar region maps posted above, we provide maximum-resolution maps of the latitudes >70 or 75°N, to show the circumpolar cyclones (CPCs); see the ZIP files below.  As Juno’s perijove drifted northwards, the resolution on the northern CPCs has increased; these maps are provided at 60 px/deg or, more recently, 120 px/deg.  These maps are presented in JPG format, to reduce file sizes, but TIF or PNG versions are available if needed.  Otherwise, the notes above apply to these maps as well.

Strong enhancement has been applied to bring out maximum detail in the terminator region.  Some of the maps have also been sharpened by blending with a small proportion of a “high-pass” version produced by Gerald (filtered for high spatial frequencies).  In addition to the unlabelled maps, our individual perijove reports often included copies with the CPCs labelled, and combined maps from pairs of perijoves to show the complete pattern of the CPCs; a few of these are also included in these ZIP files.  There were no images of the CPCs at PJ48, PJ61, or PJ71.

The changes in the northern CPCs during the mission have been described in our perijove reports, and in EPSC presentations:

Rogers JH, Eichstaedt G, Hansen CJ, Orton GS & Momary T (2021)  ‘Behaviour of Jupiter’s polar polygons over 4 years’.   EPSC Abstracts Vol. 15, EPSC2021-57.  https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2021-57.

Brueshaber S, Williams I, Rogers JH, Eichstaedt G. Orton G, Hansen C, Fletcher LN & Bolton S (2025), ‘Morphological and Positional Changes in Jupiter’s Northern Polar Cyclones’.  EPSC Abstracts Vol. 19, EPSC-DPS2025-711.

–John Rogers (2025 July 15)

PJ41-PJ60_N-polar-CPCs-maps_75N

PJ62-PJ72_N-polar-CPCs-maps_75N

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The maps are provided under a CC-BY licence: “The CC BY licence allows anyone to: copy, distribute and transmit work; adapt work; make commercial use of the work under the condition that the user must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests they endorse the user or their use of the work).”  I.e. these maps are in the public domain but should always be credited as indicated (NASA / JPL / SwRI / MSSS / Gerald Eichstädt / John Rogers); and we ask that anyone wishing to use them for research or commercial purposes would contact us first.