Cassini/Huygens Mission Update Thread Pt. 2

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telfrow

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<b>Tethys and Titan</b><br /><br /><i>Cassini looks toward Tethys and its great crater Odysseus, while at the same time capturing veiled Titan in the distance (at left).<br /><br />Titan (5,150 kilometers, or 3,200 miles across) is shrouded in a thick, smog-like atmosphere in which many small, potential impactors burn up before hitting the moon's surface. Crater-pocked Tethys (1,071 kilometers, or 665 miles across) has no such protective layer, although even a thick blanket of atmosphere would have done little good against the impactor that created Odysseus.<br /><br />The eastern limb of Tethys is overexposed in this view.<br /><br />The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Jan. 6, 2006, at a distance of approximately 4 million kilometers (2.5 million miles) from Titan and 2.7 million kilometers (1.7 million miles) from Tethys. The image scale is 25 kilometers (16 miles) per pixel on Titan and 16 kilometers (10 miles) per pixel on Tethys.</i><br /><br /> Link<br /><br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>
 
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telfrow

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<font color="yellow">Another of Cassini's 'Is it Art or Is It Science' Shots</font><br /><br /><b>Raw Image:</b> N00050617.jpg was taken on February 16, 2006 and received on Earth February 17, 2006. The camera was pointing toward SATURN at approximately 3,174,154 kilometers away, and the image was taken using the CL1 and CB2 filters. This image has not been validated or calibrated. <br /><br /> Link <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>
 
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telfrow

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<font color="yellow">'Is It Science or Is It Art,' Continued</font><br /><br /><i>N00050630.jpg was taken on February 17, 2006 and received on Earth February 17, 2006. The camera was pointing toward ENCELADUS at approximately 2,942,986 kilometers away, and the image was taken using the CL1 and CL2 filters. This image has not been validated or calibrated.</i><br /><br />Link <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>
 
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telfrow

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<b>Feathery Northern Clouds</b><br /><br /><i>After a year and a half in orbit, the Cassini spacecraft has begun to image Saturn's northern hemisphere in detail. The northern latitudes currently are experiencing winter, and atmospheric scientists are interested in determining whether the winter hemisphere is systematically different in appearance than the sunnier southern hemisphere.<br /><br />This scene contains a great deal of bright, whorl-shaped cloud activity.<br /><br />The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Jan. 6, 2006, at a distance of approximately 2.9 million kilometers (1.8 million miles) from Saturn. The image scale is 17 kilometers (11 miles) per pixel.</i><br /><br /> Link<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>
 
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telfrow

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<b>Raw Image;</b><br /><br /><i>N00050799.jpg was taken on February 19, 2006 and received on Earth February 20, 2006. The camera was pointing toward PANDORA at approximately 2,651,680 kilometers away, and the image was taken using the CL1 and CL2 filters. This image has not been validated or calibrated. </i><br /><br /> Link <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>
 
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centsworth_II

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It looks like Pandora is passing through the eye of a needle. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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telfrow

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You know, I've been a semi-serious amatuer photographer all my adult life, and these images are just astounding to me. That's the reason I sometimes add the caption: "Is it art or is it science?" I'm glad I've lived long enough to see these amazing photos. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>
 
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telfrow

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<b>Titan Smiles Back</b><br /><br /><i>This infrared view shows features on the leading hemisphere of Titan, including the bright, crescent-shaped Hotei arcus (right of center), which is also informally called "the Smile" by researchers.<br /><br />The view is centered on the bright region called Xanadu. Above center is the large crater Menrva, which is surrounded by darker material.<br /><br />North on Titan (5,150 kilometers, or 3,200 miles across) is up and rotated 30 degrees to the left.<br /><br />The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Jan. 13, 2006 using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of infrared light centered at 938 nanometers. The image was acquired at a distance of approximately 1.3 million kilometers (800,000 miles) from Titan and at a Sun-Titan-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 41 degrees. Image scale is 7 kilometers (5 miles) per pixel.</i><br /><br /> Link<br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>
 
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telfrow

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<b>Fresh Features on Enceladus (Monochrome)</b><br /><br /><i>Wrinkles and cracks have reworked the surface of Enceladus, perhaps due to the influence of tidal stresses. The monochrome view also makes it clear that certain geological provinces on the moon have been altered by the activity, erasing ancient craters, while other places have retained much of the cratering record.<br /><br />See PIA07708 for a false-color version of this view.<br /><br />Terrain on the trailing hemisphere of Enceladus (505 kilometers, or 314 miles across) is seen here. North is up.<br /><br />The image was taken using a near infrared spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of light centered at 752 nanometers. The view was obtained using the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Jan. 17, 2006 at a distance of approximately 153,000 kilometers (95,000 miles) from Enceladus and at a Sun-Enceladus-spacecraft, or phase angle, of 29 degrees. Image scale is 912 meters (2,994 feet) per pixel.</i><br /><br /> Link<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>
 
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telfrow

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<b>Intense Color on Rhea</b><br /><br /><i>This intense false-color view highlights and enhances color variations across the cratered and cracked surface of Saturn's moon Rhea.<br /><br /><br />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 it may be caused by subtle differences in the surface composition or grain sizes making up the icy soil.<br /><br /><br />This view shows terrain on the trailing hemisphere of Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across). North is up.<br /><br /><br />The images were taken using the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Jan. 18, 2006, at a distance of approximately 268,000 kilometers (166,000 miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 115 degrees. Image scale is 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) per pixel.</i><br /><br /> Link<br /><br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>
 
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telfrow

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<b>Mimas and the Giant</b><br /><br /><i>A small and battered reminder of the solar system's violent youth, the ice moon Mimas hurtles around its gas giant parent, Saturn. At 397 kilometers (247 miles) across, Mimas is simply dwarfed by the immensity of Saturn. The planet is more than 150 times as wide as the moon.<br /><br /><br />Mimas is seen here against the night side of Saturn. The planet is faintly lit by sunlight reflecting off its rings.<br /><br /><br />The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Jan. 20, 2006, at a distance of approximately 1.4 million kilometers (900,000 miles) from Mimas and at a Sun-Mimas-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 145 degrees. Image scale is 9 kilometers (5 miles) per pixel.</i><br /><br /> Link<br /><br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>
 
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telfrow

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<b>Raw Image:</b> <br /><br /><i>N00051470.jpg was taken on February 26, 2006 and received on Earth February 27, 2006. The camera was pointing toward TITAN at approximately 468,554 kilometers away, and the image was taken using the CL1 and CB3 filters. This image has not been validated or calibrated.</i><br /><br /> Link <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>
 
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telfrow

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<b>Cassini Update:</b><br /><br /><i>Cassini will "surf" by Saturn's moon Titan on February 28. This is the first of four upcoming flybys to probe Titan's gravity field, to answer the question of whether Titan possesses an internal ocean. </i><br /><br />Link<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>
 
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telfrow

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<b>F Ring Edge</b><br /><br /><i>Structure in Saturn's narrow and complex F ring is seen here, including one of the faint strands (at the left) that Cassini has shown to curl around the planet in a tight, rotating spiral. Scientists think the spiral structure might be due to disturbance of micron-sized F-ring particles by a tiny moon (or moons).<br /><br /><br />The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Jan. 19, 2006, at a distance of approximately 1.2 million kilometers (700,000 miles) from Saturn and from just above the ringplane. The image scale is 7 kilometers (4 miles) per pixel.</i><br /><br />Link<br /><br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>
 
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telfrow

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<b>Raw Image</b><br /><br /><i>W00013677.jpg was taken on February 27, 2006 and received on Earth February 28, 2006. The camera was pointing toward TITAN at approximately 70,226 kilometers away, and the image was taken using the CB3 and CL2 filters. This image has not been validated or calibrated. </i><br /><br />Link <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>
 
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telfrow

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<font color="yellow">What an image...</font><br /><br /><b>Saturnian Specters</b><br /><br /><i>Ghostly details make this dark scene more than just a beautiful grouping of two Saturn moons, with Tethys on the left and Titan on the right. In Titan's thick and inflated atmosphere, the detached high haze layer can be seen, as well as the complex northern polar hood (at the top). Images like this one can help scientists make definitive estimates of the altitudes to which the high haze extends.<br /><br /><br />The faint vertical banded pattern is a type of noise that usually is removed during image processing. Because this image was processed to enhance the visibility of details in Titan's atmosphere and the faint G ring, the vertical noise was also enhanced.<br /><br /><br />Titan is Saturn's largest moon, at 5,150 kilometers (3,200 miles) across. Tethys is 1,071 kilometers (665 miles) across.<br /><br /><br />This view was obtained in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Jan. 19, 2006, at a distance of approximately 2.4 million kilometers (1.5 million miles) from Titan and 1 million kilometers (600,000 miles) from Tethys. The image scale is 14 kilometers (9 miles) per pixel on Titan and 6 kilometers (4 miles) per pixel on Tethys.</i><br /><br />Link<br /><br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>
 
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telfrow

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<b>To the Relief of Iapetus</b><br /><br /><i>Sunlight strikes the terminator (the boundary between day and night) region on Saturn's moon Iapetus at nearly horizontal angles, making visible the vertical relief of many features.<br /><br /><br />This view is centered on terrain in the southern hemisphere of Iapetus (1,468 kilometers, or 912 miles across). Lit terrain visible here is on the moon's leading hemisphere. In this image, a large, central-peaked crater is notable at the boundary between the dark material in Cassini Regio and the brighter material on the trailing hemisphere.<br /><br /><br />The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Jan. 22, 2006, at a distance of approximately 1.3 million kilometers (800,000 miles) from Iapetus and at a Sun-Iapetus-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 67 degrees. Resolution in the original image was 8 kilometers (5 miles) per pixel. The image has been magnified by a factor of two and contrast-enhanced to aid visibility.</i><br /><br />Link<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>
 
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telfrow

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<b><font color="yellow">Science or Art?</font></b><br /><br /><b>Raw Image:</b> <i>N00051776.jpg was taken on March 02, 2006 and received on Earth March 02, 2006. The camera was pointing toward ENCELADUS at approximately 2,028,783 kilometers away, and the image was taken using the CL1 and CL2 filters. This image has not been validated or calibrated. </i><br /><br />Link<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>
 
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rfoshaug

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That is one of the most beautiful space images I've ever seen!<br /><br />If they could only have had a 16-megapixel color camera on board.... That would have been great poster material. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff9900">----------------------------------</font></p><p><font color="#ff9900">My minds have many opinions</font></p> </div>
 
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telfrow

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All of the images that have been produced during the course of this mission are absolutely stunning. But every once in a while, there's an image (like this one) that stops you in your tracks. <br /><br />And you're right. A color image of this one, enlarged to poster size, would be hanging in my home office. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>
 
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telfrow

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<b>Titan Shines Through</b><br /><br /><i>Titan's smoggy atmosphere glows brilliantly in scattered sunlight, creating a thin, gleaming crescent beyond Saturn's rings. At this slight angle above the ringplane, the thin F ring shines brightly. Light from Titan's eastern and western limbs (edges) penetrates the Cassini Division, which looks like a thin gap from this angle.<br /><br /><br />The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Jan. 18, 2006, at a distance of approximately 1 million kilometers (600,000 miles) from Saturn. Planet-sized Titan (5,150 kilometers, or 3,200 miles across) was 2.2 million kilometers (1.4 million miles) from Cassini at that time. The image scale is 13 kilometers (8 miles) per pixel on Titan.</i><br /><br />Link<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>
 
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efron_24

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"Titan shines ... "what a FANTASTIC photo .. together with the double moon photo that was posted a few days ago.. Super !! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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telfrow

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<b>The Air Up There</b><br /><br /><i>This specially processed composite view reveals a tremendous amount of structure in the northern polar atmosphere of Titan. The hazes in Titan's atmosphere are known to extend hundreds of kilometers above the surface.<br /><br /><br />Structure visible here could be due to multiple detached hazes, or waves in the atmosphere that propagate through stably stratified layers.<br /><br /><br />Ten images taken during a brief period were processed to enhance fine detail and then were combined to create this view.</i><br /><br /> Link <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>
 
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telfrow

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<b><font color="yellow">Science or Art?</font>/b><br /><br /><i>N00053740.jpg was taken on March 10, 2006 and received on Earth March 10, 2006. The camera was pointing toward SATURN at approximately 2,836,296 kilometers away, and the image was taken using the P60 and CB1 filters. This image has not been validated or calibrated.</i><br /><br />Link</b> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>
 
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