Study shows how amateur astronomers can aid in Jupiter weather monitoring

Jupiter's striking appearance comes from its stormy atmosphere. Swirling clouds surround the gas giant, and their distribution reflects the planet's weather. Scientists have used professional observatories such as the Very Large Telescope in Chile (whose construction in the 1990s cost more than 330 million euro, or US$366 million) and spacecraft such as the Juno orbiter (part of a US$1.13 billion mission) to study Jupiter's meteorology, but they lack some ongoing monitoring abilities. Amateur astronomers have filled in part of this gap by monitoring visible clouds and wind.