Imaging the Outer Planets in the Voyager Grand Tour

About the role

The 'Grand Tour' to the outer solar system of the twin Voyager spacecraft made the first detailed investigations of the giant planets from Jupiter to Neptune in a brief decade from 1979 to 1989. The photographs returned by these spacecraft were not only inspirational, but a scientific goldmine, revealing diverse features from Jupiters Great Red Spot to cracks on Europa, and from cliffs on Miranda to geysers on Triton. These images have been used countless times over the past three decades to conduct scientific analyses in planetary geology and atmospheric science, to inspire new generations of scientists and explorers, and to formulate new missions.

Responsibilities

The envisaged project includes: image selection, cleaning and preprocessing; image remapping, color adjustment and combining; comparison to data from other telescopes; and subsequent investigations of reprocessed images which can focus on one or multiple scientific areas: Jovian clouds, Callisto craters, Europa chaos blocks, Triton plumes, or other topics.

Requirements

• Research proposal
• Three letters of recommendation
• Official doctoral transcript documents

Qualifications

• Background in astronomy, planetary science, or Earth science, especially including astronomical image analysis from telescope or remote sensing data
• Experience with image manipulation software such as photoshop, imageJ, FITSview
• Ability to code in python, IDL or similar language for numerical image processing and adjustment
• Publication experience in a relevant field and scientific ability
• Independent problem-solving, time management, and excellent written and oral communication skills

Skills

• Astronomical image analysis
• Image manipulation software proficiency
• Programming in Python, IDL, or similar language

Benefits

ORAU offers internships, fellowships, research opportunities, and contract positions that can provide valuable experience.

Pay

N/A

Schedule

N/A

Contact Information

Please email npp@orau.org for questions about this opportunity.