Cassini Equinox & Solstice Mission, (nine year extension)!!.

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nimbus

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Re: Cassini Equinox Mission (Cassini's two year extension).

Wow!!
 
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3488

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Re: Cassini Equinox Mission (Cassini's two year extension).

Titan casts an enormous shadow on Saturn's southern hemisphere.

Photojournal article.

PIA11648.jpg


Dione passes behind Rhea as seen from Cassini (image too wide to post here).

Andrew Brown.
 
B

brandbll

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Re: Cassini Equinox Mission (Cassini's two year extension).

3488":37ngrkjo said:
My crop & enlargement of Rhea & Dione in conjunction as seen by Cassini. Saturday 28th November 2009.
N00147640DIoneRhea28November2009.jpg


Andrew Brown.


What's the third object in that picture?
 
B

brandbll

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Re: Cassini Equinox Mission (Cassini's two year extension).

3488":2oqceige said:
Thanks Wayne, I appreciate that comment very much. It is great to be getting back.

A crop & sharpened shot of Enceladus from 2,028 KM. Ridges & ice boulders are clearly visible as is at least one major thrust fault.
Enceladus2060KMNovember212009Cassin.jpg


Andrew Brown.

Andrew, any explanation for the little white dot in middle part of the bottom of the picture(it's inbetween the two canyon like structures)? It's just sort of standing out all by itself in a dark patch.
 
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nimbus

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Re: Cassini Equinox Mission (Cassini's two year extension).

There's a few other ones like it elsewhere in the picture. Probably noise in most cases.
 
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3488

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Re: Cassini Equinox Mission (Cassini's two year extension).

Hi Brandon,

Yes I think nimbus is correct.

It does look like hot pixels, noise to me as well. The same with the mysterious third object on the Dione - Rhea image.

Please if you see anything else that you do not understand please ask. It also gives me another chance to look myself. :mrgreen:

Andrew Brown.
 
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3488

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Re: Cassini Equinox Mission (Cassini's two year extension).

On Monday 19th October 2009, Cassini observes Mimas pass in front of Rhea.
PIA11695.jpg


Thursday 27th August 2009, Cassini observes the shadows of Saturn's rings sweep across 179 KM wide Janus.
PIA11694.jpg


These are from two of several Saturn moon occultation movies released by NASA / JPL/ CICLOPS.

Saturn Moon Occultation movies from Cassini here

Andrew Brown.
 
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3488

Guest
Re: Cassini Equinox Mission (Cassini's two year extension).

Just a quick chime in as I am not at home at he moment.

Saturn with Rhea in true colour.

On the limb just below the equator on Saturn's cloudtops is the shadow of Tethys.

PIA12513_modest.jpg


Andrew Brown.
 
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3488

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Re: Cassini Equinox Mission (Cassini's two year extension).

Hi everyone, you gotta see these.

The 145 KM x 85 KM x 62 KM, Saturn Moon Prometheus, best ever views, even better than Voyager 2.

Leading side.
N00149033.jpg


Trailing side.
N00148970.jpg


Another view.
N00148977.jpg


Andrew Brown.
 
M

MeteorWayne

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Re: Cassini Equinox Mission (Cassini's two year extension).

Great pics Andrew. Another of the many deranged potatos roaming the solar system :)
 
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3488

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Re: Cassini Equinox Mission (Cassini's two year extension).

Hi Wayne, certainly is. This one really derranged.

I have worked on two enlargements & one crop.

My sharpened enlargement of the 145 KM x 85 KM x 62 KM Saturn moon Prometheus.
N00148970PromettheusChristmasDay200.jpg


My sharpened enlarged crop of the terminator on Prometheus.
N00148970PrometheusChristmasDay2009.jpg


My sharpened view of the leading side.
N00149033PrometheusChristmasDay2009.jpg


What is apparent are the lack of large craters, there are many small ones, but not large ones. Also a few grooves are visible on this icy shepherding F Ring moon. One crater approx 15 KM wide on the final image has a central peak.

Andrew Brown.
 
M

MeteorWayne

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Re: Cassini Equinox Mission (Cassini's two year extension).

The other thing that seems apparent to me is how soft the crater edges are. There are no sharp, fresh rims, rather they are very muted like the constant smaller impacts have shaken the loose material down, rounding off the edges.
 
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3488

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Re: Cassini Equinox Mission (Cassini's two year extension).

I wonder if Prometheus is an icy rubble pile held together by gravity. Or could be a solid shard of ice, with a loose layer of rubble ice on the surface. I suppose a rubble pile would support deeper craters with sharper edges.

I would suspect that seismic waves from 'larger' impacts shakes the craters level. But then we do not have accurate density measurements for Prometheus.

Below, leading side image again, but contrast enhanced.
N00149033PrometheusChristmasDay2-1.jpg


Andrew Brown.
 
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3488

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Re: Cassini Equinox Mission (Cassini's two year extension).

Quite a nice picture of an anticyclonic storm in Saturn's southern hemisphere captured by Cassini on Friday 6th November 2009.

Based on the cloud patterns surrounding the oval, the oval appears to be spinning counter clockwise, therefore high pressure in the southern hemisphere (as on Earth southern hemisphere anticyclones, Jupiter's Great Red Spot, etc)

Anticyclonic system in Saturn's southern hemisphere.

PIA12522.jpg


Andrew Brown.
 
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3488

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Re: Cassini Equinox Mission (Cassini's two year extension).

Rings & Rhea.

1,528 KM wide Rhea was in the foreground showing the trailing hemisphere in this image taken on: Wednesday 4th November 2009.

PIA12519.jpg


Andrew Brown.
 
J

job1207

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Re: Cassini Equinox Mission (Cassini's two year extension).

What are the moving objects in the background??
 
M

MeteorWayne

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Re: Cassini Equinox Mission (Cassini's two year extension).

Probably the rings?
 
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3488

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Re: Cassini Equinox Mission (Cassini's two year extension).

Hi Wayne,

Yes it is the rings in the background, Rhea in the foreground.

Below. Crescent Tethys. Captured by Cassini on: Saturday 9th January 2010.
N00149762.jpg


Below. My own crop & sharpened enlargement.
CrescentTethysSunday10thJanuary2010.jpg


Andrew Brown.
 
N

nimbus

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Re: Cassini Equinox Mission (Cassini's two year extension).

:shock: :cool:

The full size version is beautiful. The detail on Tethys and Titan's atmosphere are .. err beautiful :) Probe pictures are getting to the point where you can almost feel like you're there yourself. Though I suppose the feeling from actually being there to see it would dwarf any picture. Much like seeing excellent pics of Earth from space or Earth-rise from the Moon, and actually floating/standing in front of those sights yourself.

The full size JPG has a lot more compression damage than the TIFF. I've resaved JPG crops of the TIFF focused on the nicest parts of each frame. Click for the full size browser-friendly jpgs:

 
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3488

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Re: Cassini Equinox Mission (Cassini's two year extension).

Thank you very much nimbus for your input. This is a most amazing set of observations by Cassini.

I have cropped, enlarged & sharpend Tethys partially eclipsed by Titan. The Odysseus Crater on Tethys is most obvious.
PIA12528TethyspassingbehindTitancro.jpg


PIA12528TethyspassingbehindTitan-1.jpg


Also a cropped enlarged portion from a raw image, showing Tethys off the limb of Titan.
PIA12528TethyspassingbehindTitan-2.jpg


Andrew Brown.
 
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3488

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Re: Cassini Equinox Mission (Cassini's two year extension).

Rhea passes behind Titan on Tuesday 27th October 2009.

Three images I reorientated & shrunk to fit on here.
RheapassingbehindTitanTuesday27t-4.jpg


RheapassingbehindTitanTuesday27t-1.jpg


RheapassingbehindTitanTuesday27thOc.jpg


A couple of enlarged, sharpened crops I did.

Rhea dissappears behind Titan's night side. Hazes in Titan's atmosphere are visible in front of Rhea.
RheapassingbehindTitanTuesday27t-2.jpg


Rhea just reappeared behind Titan's day side.
RheapassingbehindTitanTuesday27t-5.jpg


Andrew Brown.
 
A

abq_farside

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Re: Cassini Equinox Mission (Cassini's two year extension).

Andrew thanks for the fantastic images.
 
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3488

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Re: Cassini Equinox Mission (Cassini's two year extension).

You are very welcome abq_farside. Pleased you like them & hope you find them interesting.

Below.

Something we have not had for a while, a Cassini Synthetic Aperture Radar Image of Titan.

The Titan Radar Mapper acquired this image at 41 North, 213 West, Belet Regio, on Monday 28th December 2009. The image measures 285 KM by 250 KM, with resolution of about 350 meters. North is up & the image is illuminated from the right. The grooved hills are approx 60 metres high.

These hills bear a resemblance to the 'Spider' formations, discovered by the Magellan Venus Orbiter on Venus, where as Venus has a volcanic basaltic rocky surface at a temp of approx plus 450 C / 723 K, Titan's hills are icy at a temp of approx minus 180 C / 93 K. Perhaps these hills are a result of cryovolcanism?????

Grooves in hills. I have rotated the image so north is at top. The original has north at left.

PIA1249641degnorth213degwest285KMx2.jpg


Planetary Photojournal entry

An enlarged sharpened crop I did of the groove cut hilly terrain in the SW (lower left) portion of the first image. The area cropped is approx 80 KM wide. The grooves do look more like channels in the crop.
PIA1249641degnorth213degwestapprox6.jpg


Andrew Brown.
 
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3488

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Re: Cassini Equinox Mission (Cassini's two year extension).

Yesterday, Wednesday 27th January 2010, Cassini passed by the 145 KM x 85 KM x 62 KM Saturn moon Prometheus again.

Images below I have cropped from the raw originals. They are a bit 'noisy' but the detail is fantastic.
Prometheus27January20102Cassini.jpg


Prometheus27January20103Cassini.jpg


Below three enlarged sharpened cleaned up crops I did. Came out well I think. I think the first one has ring shadows as horizontal lines near the top of Prometheus.

Prometheus27January20108Cassini.jpg


Prometheus27January20105Cassini.jpg


Prometheus27January20106Cassini.jpg


Andrew Brown.
 
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