Solar Jet Hunter

Joint the hunt for solar jets - enigmatic bursts of energy from our own star - the Sun!

Solar jets are bursts of plasma coming off the Sun. Studying solar jets, which are small and narrow ejections of solar material, may help us address some of the Sun’s mysteries. For example, solar jets could be linked to energetic particles and perturbations in the solar wind. In this project, we focus on features that are found at various sizes and locations on the Sun, which can be observed clearly in extreme ultraviolet images.

The goal of this Zooniverse project is to build a database of solar jets. Building this database will provide a jumping-off point for researchers to study the physics of solar ejections. The database will allow researchers to find interesting cases, compare data across other types of solar activity databases, and conduct broad statistical studies of jet properties.

In this project, volunteers are asked to watch movies of the Sun and assess whether there is a solar plasma jet in the movie. If there is, a second workflow asks volunteers to mark the start and end time of the jet, and also draw a box around it. These results are used by researchers to categorize jets and study their locations, timing, sizes, and velocities.