Cassini/Huygens Mission Update Thread Pt. 2

[scottb50]

I think it's more than the moon is amassing the material in the ring, and the waves are the result of the moons gravity disturbing the material in the ring. Since the vast majority of the rings appears to be ices, rather than substanial matter, it is a really slow process to build the mass of the moon. Bigg4est rock on the block actually fits the picture, it had enough gravity to accumulate matter from the ring. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[vogon13]

For an observer on that moon, you would see the disturbance propogate away from yourself both inward and outward. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[teije]

D'oh!<br />Of course. I should have thought of that. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br />Thanks for the answers guys! I feel a bit stupid now. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" />

 

[chew_on_this]

Such a cool pic.

 

[douglas_clark]

ScottB50,<br /><br />Thanks for that.<br /><br />douglas

 

[telfrow]

Magnificent. <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>

 

[telfrow]

Cassini Radio Signals Decipher Saturn Ring Structure<br />May 23, 2005<br />(Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory)<br /><br />The Cassini spacecraft has obtained the most detailed look ever at Saturn's rings, including the B ring, which has eluded previous robotic explorers. Its structure seems remarkably different from its two neighbors, rings A and C. <br /><br />The origin of Saturn's rings is a mystery. The rings are an enormous, complex structure. From edge-to-edge, the ring system would not even fit in the distance between Earth and the Moon. The seven main rings are labeled in the order they were discovered. From the planet outward, they are D, C, B, A, F, G and E. <br /><br />During a recent radio experiment, Cassini mapped this structure with clarity never before available. This is the first of many such observations Cassini will be conducting over the summer. <br /><br />"The structure of those remarkable rings is a sight to behold. All ring features appear to be populated by a broad range of particle sizes that extend to many meters in diameter at the upper end," said Dr. Essam Marouf, Cassini radio science team member and professor of electrical engineering, San Jose State University, San Jose, Calif. <br />Marouf said that at the lower end, particles of about 5 centimeters (roughly 2 inches) in diameter or less seem to be scarce in ring B and inner ring A. In rings C and outer ring A, particles of less than about 5 centimeters (2 inches) in diameter seem to be abundant. <br /><br />Cassini found that the inner and outer parts of ring B contain rings that are hundreds of kilometers wide (hundreds of miles) and vary greatly in the amount of material they contain. A thick, 5,000-kilometer-wide (3,100-mile) core contains several bands with ring material that is nearly four times as dense as that of ring A and nearly 20 times as dense as that of ring C.<br /><br />The dramatically varying structure of ring B is in sharp contrast to the relatively flat structure of ring A or t <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>

 

[chew_on_this]

Wish I could make a .gif of the "eye" blinking once in while. Kind of unsettling having it stare back at you.

 

[elguapoguano]

Look out Saturn, here comes the Death Star!!!! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#ff0000"><u><em>Don't let your sig line incite a gay thread ;>)</em></u></font> </div>

 

[Leovinus]

<i>This poetic wide-angle camera view of Saturn reveals several small, dark storms in the southern latitudes, where storm activity has been prevalent since before Cassini arrived in orbit.<br /><br />Also notable here is the semi-transparent C ring, which is visible against the backdrop of the planet.<br /><br />The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on April 23, 2005, through a filter sensitive to wavelengths of infrared light centered at 1028 nanometers and at a distance of approximately 2.4 million kilometers (1.5 million miles) from Saturn. The image scale is 142 kilometers (88 miles) per pixel. </i> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[alokmohan]

Its fun to know such details of saturn.

 

[Leovinus]

<i>In this fabulous close-up, Cassini peers directly through regions of the A, B and C rings (from top to bottom here) to glimpse shadows of the very same rings cast upon the planet's atmosphere. Near the top, shadows cast by ringlets in the Cassini division (center) look almost like a photo negative.<br /><br />This type of image helps scientists probe the rings' structure in detail and provides information about the density of their constituent particles.<br /><br />The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on April 26, 2005, at a distance of approximately 2.3 million kilometers (1.4 million miles) from Saturn. The image scale is 14 kilometers (9 miles) per pixel. </i> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[telfrow]

<b>That</b> is an amazing image. Thanks Leo. <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>

 

[Leovinus]

Don't thank me -- thank the people at JPL. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[telfrow]

<img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> I meant thanks for posting it. <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>

 

[centsworth_II]

Yes, a great way to keep up with the Cassini Mission. Let Leo do the work of bringing us the cream. Thanks from me too. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[chew_on_this]

Here's a link to CICLOPS. They have a new pic every day!<br /><br />http://ciclops.lpl.arizona.edu/

 

[centsworth_II]

Yeah, but I'm a fan of one stop shopping. That's what I like about SDC, going through the forums here, one can pick up on all kinds of interesting things.<img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> And, alas, some decidedly uninteresting hokum.<img src="/images/icons/frown.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[denibus]

Why haven't we seen current shots of the moon landing?<br />I'd like to know if the Flag is still standing.<br /><br />http://www.denibus.flashbuilder.net/

 

[spacechump]

What does that have ANYTHING to do with Cassini and Saturn Denibus?<br /><br />Edit: or did I miss a Huygens reference and a joke in there.....long day

 

[henryhallam]

<font color="yellow"><br />Why haven't we seen current shots of the moon landing? <br />I'd like to know if the Flag is still standing.<br /></font><br />Totally irrelevant to this thread, but the general problem is that no telescope on Earth or in Earth orbit has the magnifying power and resolution necessary to see any detail of the landing sites. You would need a lunar orbiter equipped with a modestly sized telescope to do that. Lunar Prospector didn't have a camera, and I'm not sure about SMART-1 but I doubt its camera could see whether the flags are upright or not; I remember that it's a pretty small one but it might just resolve the LM I guess if in a low orbit over the landing site. Or maybe not, I really don't know what resolution it has.<br /><br />I expect the Lunar Recon Orbiter could probably pick out the landing sites in a bit more detail, resolving the position of the flag might still be a bit much to ask though. <br /><br />There is of course little reason why the flags should have changed position since they were last seen.<br /><br />Best solution: go back and take some photos up close and personal!<br />

 

[vogon13]

Leo:<br /><br />Thanx for the pix. Fantastic. Pioneer 11 shot an image looking thru the gap between the lower edge of the visible (to it) rings to the Saturn cloud tops. Such an amazing alien vista. <br /><br />And now the picture you've posted, exquisite!<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[the_ten]

9 miles per pixel!!!! God damn that's big! Just imagine what it would be like to see Saturn in real life, with your own eyes! Can you possibly imagine?

 

[white_noise]

about the wave, if the motion of the moon is causing it, won't the moon loss energy and drop to lower orbit?

 

[vogon13]

Very complex situation. Yes that moon is interacting with nearby ring structures, however, there are also interactions with everything else in the Saturn system (technically the universe, but situation complex enough). Hard to calculate what the net motion of a specific particle or moon would be (moving in or out). Also, moons we can see with Cassini camera are cubic miles of material, ring particles are at most cubic meters, so effects probably diluted by mass ratios. Also neeed to know where all the moon orbital resonances are. Just read that Iapetus has a visible effect and it is 3,000,000 kilometers (IIRC) away.<br /><br />2 body problem hard enough, here gravitational calculations have to account for bazillion objects. Makes my math lobe hurt!<br /><br /><br /><img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>