Cassini/Huygens Mission Update Thread Pt. 2

Leovinus · Jan 27, 2006

I don't see Prometheus. I'm sure it's out there somewhere. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

telfrow · Jan 27, 2006

I think it's the little bump on the rings about 2/3rds of the way up. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild. - Tennyson </div>

telfrow · Jan 27, 2006

Detail on Dione (False Color) The leading hemisphere of Dione displays subtle variations in color across its surface in this false color view. To create this view, ultraviolet, green and infrared images were combined into a single black and white picture that isolates and maps regional color differences. This "color map" was then superposed over a clear-filter image. The origin of the color differences is not yet understood, but may be caused by subtle differences in the surface composition or the sizes of grains making up the icy soil. Terrain visible here is on the moon's leading hemisphere. North on Dione (1,126 kilometers, or 700 miles across) is up and rotated 17 degrees to the right. See PIA07687 for a similar monochrome view. All images were acquired with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Dec. 24, 2005 at a distance of approximately 597,000 kilometers (371,000 miles) from Dione and at a Sun-Dione-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 21 degrees. Image scale is 4 kilometers (2 miles) per pixel. link <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild. - Tennyson </div>

telfrow · Jan 31, 2006

Dione Has Her Faults (False Color) This view highlights tectonic faults and craters on Dione, an icy world that has undoubtedly experienced geologic activity since its formation. To create the enhanced-color view, ultraviolet, green and infrared images were combined into a single black and white picture that isolates and maps regional color differences. This "color map" was then superposed over a clear-filter image. The origin of the color differences is not yet understood, but may be caused by subtle differences in the surface composition or the sizes of grains making up the icy soil. This view looks toward the leading hemisphere on Dione (1,126 kilometers, or 700 miles across). North is up and rotated 20 degrees to the right. See PIA07690 for a similar monochrome view. All images were acquired with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Dec. 24, 2005 at a distance of approximately 151,000 kilometers (94,000 miles) from Dione and at a Sun-Dione-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 99 degrees. Image scale is 896 meters (2,940 feet) per pixel. Link <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild. - Tennyson </div>

telfrow · Feb 1, 2006

This is a really cool story... Cassini Scientist for a Day Picking a target for a spacecraft to observe is usually a task for a select group of mission scientists. This fall, however, a group of California fourth and fifth graders got to put themselves in the scientists' place and select where to point Cassini's cameras as the spacecraft continues its historic tour of the Saturnian region. There is no reason why the scientists on this project ought to have all the fun in designing these observations," says Robert T. Mitchell, program manager for the Cassini-Huygens mission at JPL. The students were given 10 days to study three target options and decide which opportunity would make more sense scientifically. After a lively debate, they voted to take an image of the majestic rings. Mission planners then calculated the needed maneuvers and sent the commands to the spacecraft. The image was taken Jan. 23, 2006. The students who got to step into Cassini scientists' shoes attend Shirley Avenue Elementary School in Reseda, California, part of the NASA Explorer School network. The school was selected to pilot this educational program that challenges students to experience first-hand the kind of decisions scientists make on a daily bases. In February, a similar activity will be open to all 150 NASA Explorer schools. Full Story Here <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild. - Tennyson </div>

chrisodd · Feb 2, 2006

Wow, I wish they had had things like that when I was a kid. Talk about cool. Too bad they don't do stuff like this more often. They'd really benefit by hooking kids early to science and space. -ChrisOdd

telfrow · Feb 3, 2006

The Great Basin Plunging cliffs and towering mountains characterize the gigantic impact structure called Odysseus on Saturn's moon Tethys. The great impact basin lies before the Cassini spacecraft in one of the best views yet obtained. Quite a few small craters are visible inside Odysseus (450 kilometers, or 280 miles across), making it clear that this is not a very young structure. However, a comparison of cratering density between the interior of Odysseus and the surrounding terrain should show whether the large basin is at least relatively young. Odysseus is on the leading hemisphere of Tethys (1,071 kilometers, or 665 miles across). North is up and rotated 18 degrees to the right. The image was taken in polarized ultraviolet light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Dec. 24, 2005 at a distance of approximately 196,000 kilometers (122,000 miles) from Tethys and at a Sun-Tethys-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 85 degrees. Resolution in the original image was 1 kilometer (3,831 feet) per pixel. The image has been magnified by a factor of two and contrast-enhanced to aid visibility. Link <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild. - Tennyson </div>

telfrow · Feb 3, 2006

Rough and Tumble Hyperion The tumbling and irregularly shaped moon Hyperion hangs before Cassini in this image taken during a distant encounter in Dec. 2005. This still image is part of a movie sequence of 40 images taken over about two hours as Cassini sped past the icy moon (see PIA07683). Hyperion (280 kilometers, or 174 miles across) is covered with closely packed and deeply etched pits. The warming action of the Sun on water ice lying beneath a darkened layer of surface material apparently has deepened and exaggerated the depressions already created by impacts. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Dec. 23, 2005 at a distance of 228,000 kilometers (142,000 miles) from Hyperion and at a Sun-Hyperion-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 77 degrees. Resolution in the original image was about 1.4 kilometers (0.9 mile) per pixel. The image was magnified by a factor of two and contrast-enhanced to aid visibility. Link <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild. - Tennyson </div>

telfrow · Feb 7, 2006

Youthful Enceladus For Enceladus, wrinkles mean the opposite of old age. This view of a crescent Enceladus shows a transition zone between a wrinkled and presumably younger region of terrain and an older, more heavily cratered region. The moon's geologically active southern polar region is seen at bottom. The lit terrain shown here is on the side of Enceladus (505 kilometers, or 314 miles across) that faces away from Saturn. North is up and rotated 20 degrees to the right. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Dec. 24, 2005 at a distance of approximately 108,000 kilometers (67,000 miles) from Enceladus and at a Sun-Enceladus-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 102 degrees. Image scale is 646 meters (2,118 feet) per pixel. Link <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild. - Tennyson </div>

telfrow · Feb 7, 2006

Rough and Tumble Hyperion (Movie) Quicktime Movie Here <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild. - Tennyson </div>

telfrow · Feb 7, 2006

Rings Against a Dark Planet The Cassini spacecraft looked toward the darkened night side of Saturn to capture the eerie glow of the rings, which, not being blocked by the planet's bulk, remained brilliant in full sunlight. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Dec. 24, 2005, at a distance of approximately 286,000 kilometers (178,000 miles) from Saturn. The image scale is 13 kilometers (8 miles) per pixel. Link <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild. - Tennyson </div>

telfrow · Feb 8, 2006

A Closer Look at Telesto (False-Color) These views show surface features and color variation on the Trojan moon Telesto. The smooth surface of this moon suggests that, like Pandora, it is covered with a mantle of fine, dust-sized icy material. The monochrome image was taken in visible light (see PIA07696). To create the false-color view, ultraviolet, green and infrared images were combined into a single black and white picture that isolates and maps regional color differences. This "color map" was then superposed over a clear-filter image. The origin of the color differences is not yet understood, but may be caused by subtle differences in the surface composition or the sizes of grains making up the icy soil. Tiny Telesto is a mere 24 kilometers (15 miles) wide. All images were acquired with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Dec. 25, 2005 at a distance of approximately 20,000 kilometers (12,000 miles) from Telesto and at a Sun-Telesto-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 58 degrees. Image scale is 118 meters (387 feet) per pixel. Link <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild. - Tennyson </div>

bobw · Feb 8, 2006

Is Telesto round? Doesn't look it to me. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

telfrow · Feb 8, 2006

Doesn't look like it to me either. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild. - Tennyson </div>

thinice · Feb 9, 2006

I think to make a body spherical there should be heat caused by gravitational compression enough to melt it. But Telesto is just too small for that.

telfrow · Feb 10, 2006

An Infrared Map of Titan This global infrared map of Titan was composed with data from Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer taken during the last two Titan flybys, on Dec. 26, 2005, and Jan. 15, 2006. The map was constructed from false-color images taken at wavelengths of 1.6 microns shown in blue, 2.01 microns in green, and 5 microns in red. All three images are of reflected sunlight. The viewing geometry of the December flyby is roughly on the opposite hemisphere of the flyby in January. There are several important features to note in the map. First, the globe of Titan exhibits two major types of terrain, one is very bright, and a darker one seems to be concentrated near the equator. Titan also has two very bright regions, the large one known as Tui Reggio, located at approximately 25 degrees south latitude and 130 degrees west longitude, and the other as Hotei Arcus, at 20 degrees south latitude and 80 degrees west longitude. These regions are thought to be surface deposits, probably of volcanic origin, and may be water and/or carbon dioxide frozen from the volcanic vapor. The western margins of Tui Reggio have a complex flow-like structure consistent with eruptive phenomena. The reddish feature at the south pole is Titan's south polar cloud system, which was very bright during the December flyby. The impact crater Sinlap is clearly visible at approximately latitude 13 degrees north and longitude 16 degrees west. The poorly resolved regions between longitudes of 30 degrees and 150 degrees east will be filled in during subsequent flybys. Link <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild. - Tennyson </div>

telfrow · Feb 10, 2006

Infrared Movie of Titan <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild. - Tennyson </div>

telfrow · Feb 10, 2006

Mapping Titan's Changes The three mosaics shown here were composed with data from Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer taken during the last three Titan flybys, on Oct. 28, 2005 (left image), Dec. 26, 2005 (middle image), and Jan. 15, 2006 (right image). These false-color images were constructed from images taken at the following wavelengths: 1.6 microns (blue), 2.01 (green), and 5 microns (red). The viewing geometry of the December flyby is roughly on Titan's opposite hemisphere from the flybys in October and January. There are several important features to note in the images. The first is that the south polar cloud system was very bright during the December flyby, while during the October and January flybys, it is barely visible, indicating that the atmosphere over Titan's south pole is very dynamic. In the December (middle) mosaic, a north polar hood that is bright at 5 microns is visible. Its composition is unknown. The north polar hood is barely seen in the October (left image) and January (right image) data. Visible in the October and December images just south of the equator is Tui Reggio, a region nicknamed the “chevron.” This region is very bright at 5 microns and is among the brightest features on Titan at that wavelength. Tui Reggio is thought to be a surface deposit, probably of volcanic origin, and may be water and/or carbon dioxide frozen from the vapor. The December flyby data show that the western margins of Tui Reggio have a complex flow-like character consistent with eruptive phenomena. Link <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild. - Tennyson </div>

telfrow · Feb 11, 2006

Raw Image: N00050245.jpg was taken on February 10, 2006 and received on Earth February 10, 2006. The camera was pointing toward TETHYS at approximately 3,951,271 kilometers away, and the image was taken using the RED and CL2 filters. This image has not been validated or calibrated. Link <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild. - Tennyson </div>

telfrow · Feb 14, 2006

Storm at Night (Reprojected View) This image shows a rare and powerful storm on the night side of Saturn. Light from Saturn's rings (called "ringshine") provided the illumination, allowing the storm and other cloud features to be seen. The storm is a possible source of radio emissions believed to come from electrical discharges (lightning) deep in Saturn's atmosphere. Cassini began detecting the radio emissions, which are like those from lightning, on January 23. At about the same time, amateur astronomers reported that a storm had appeared in Saturn's southern hemisphere at minus 35 degrees latitude. Cassini was in the wrong place to take good images of the storm on the day side, since the planet showed only a thin crescent to the spacecraft, but night side imaging was possible using light from the rings. The image shows the storm as it appeared to the Cassini imaging system on January 27, 2006. The storm’s north-south dimension is about 3,500 kilometers (2,175 miles); it is located at minus 36 degrees (planetocentric) latitude and 168 degrees west longitude. This places it on the side of the planet that faces the spacecraft when the radio emissions are detected; the radio emissions shut down for half a Saturnian day when the storm is on the other side. This view was derived from an original Cassini image by reprojecting it as a cylindrical map and enhancing the contrast to bring out faint features. See PIA07788 for the original image. No lightning flashes are visible in the image. They would look like medium-sized bright spots, since the light would spread out before it reaches the cloud tops. Non-detection does not mean that the lightning is absent, however. Lightning might be too faint to stand out above background or too deep to be seen through the thick clouds. Bad luck is another possibility: The camera might have missed the strong flashes during the 10 seconds that the shutter was open. A n <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild. - Tennyson </div>

telfrow · Feb 14, 2006

MP3 of Storm <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild. - Tennyson </div>

telfrow · Feb 14, 2006

Storm at Night (Limb View) <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild. - Tennyson </div>

chew_on_this · Feb 16, 2006

Looks hyperdimensional to me...

telfrow · Feb 16, 2006

Raw Image: W00013457.jpg was taken on February 15, 2006 and received on Earth February 15, 2006. The camera was pointing toward SATURN at approximately 3,359,009 kilometers away, and the image was taken using the CL1 and CL2 filters. This image has not been validated or calibrated. Link <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild. - Tennyson </div>

telfrow · Feb 16, 2006

Clinging to the Rings This fortunate view sights along Saturn's ringplane to capture three moons aligned in a row: Dione (1,126 kilometers, or 700 miles across) at left, Prometheus (102 kilometers, or 63 miles across) at center and Epimetheus (116 kilometers, or 72 miles across) at right. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Jan. 2, 2006, at a distance of approximately 2.8 million kilometers (1.7 million miles) from Saturn. The image scale is 19 kilometers (12 miles) per pixel on Dione, and about 17 kilometers (11 miles) per pixel on Prometheus and Epimetheus. Link <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild. - Tennyson </div>

Cassini/Huygens Mission Update Thread Pt. 2

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