Cassini/Huygens Mission Update Thread

[mrmorris]

Yep -- najaB's pic is about as close as you're getting. The Earth in that pic is about 378 pixels wide and the equatorial diameter is 7926 miles, or about 20.97 miles per pixel.

 

[titanman]

The easily impressed should only appologize for themselves.<br />Move to France if it excites you. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Obama - The only Space he will study is the Space between his ears - Coming soon: a new and deprived NASA with a new name!- ONASA (and say goodbye to your jobs...) </div>

 

[titanman]

Geez, where is the fortitude...stand up for what you believe...a couple of sensitive people get defensive and you change what you say?<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Obama - The only Space he will study is the Space between his ears - Coming soon: a new and deprived NASA with a new name!- ONASA (and say goodbye to your jobs...) </div>

 

[fangsheath]

Bite me.

 

[5stone10]

That about sums it up for me as well !!

 

[JonClarke]

Complete oblivious to the fact there are people here who think that Huygens was a dog, the professionals are over the moon (as it were) regarding the most preliminary implications. Three interesting interviews on astrobiology magazine.<br /><br />http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1409&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0<br /><br />http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1413&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0<br /><br />http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1410&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0<br /><br />Jon<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em>  Arthur Clarke</p> </div>

 

[flynn]

Thanks everyone for answering my question, I do normally like to stick around if I ask something but I had to go to work. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#800080">"All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring" - <strong>Chuck Palahniuk</strong>.</font> </div>

 

[spacehappy]

This thread is getting too long. I'm going to lock it and let you start a sequel.

 

[darrrius]

Search for life signal on Titan <br /><br />Titan: An atmosphere not unlike Earth's billions of years ago<br /><br /><br />Scientists will comb data sent back from Titan by the Huygens probe for the chemical signature of life in a bid to identify the moon's source of methane. <br />Methane is constantly destroyed by UV light so there must be a source within Titan to replenish the atmosphere. <br /><br />Life is a possible - though some think unlikely - source of this hydrocarbon along with geological processes. <br /><br />The surface is too cold for biology, but microbes could survive in an ocean within Titan, a senior scientist says. <br /><br />Methane can also be released from a trapped form called clathrate and produced by a geological process called "serpentinisation". Neither of these involve biology. <br /><br />Dominated by nitrogen, methane and other organic (carbon-based) molecules, Titan is thought to resemble a deep-frozen version of Earth 4.6 billion years ago. <br /><br />Liquid methane rains down on Titan into river channels carved between hills of water ice. Reservoirs of this hydrocarbon probably lie on or just below the surface. <br /><br />But UV light would destroy all the methane on Titan within 10 million years if it were not being constantly renewed. <br /><br /> We have liquid water, organics not so far away; we have everything on Titan to make life <br /><br />Francois Raulin, University of Paris <br /><br />"We cannot say there is absolutely no chance for life," Dr Francois Raulin, one of three interdisciplinary scientists on the Huygens mission told the BBC News website. <br /><br />"There is no chance for life on the surface because it is too cold and there is no liquid water. <br /><br />"However, models of Titan's interior show there should be an ocean about 100km deep at around 300km below the surface." <br /><br />If the models are correct, this ocean would be composed mostly of liquid water with about 15% ammonia at a temperature of about -80C, said Dr Raulin

 

[Leovinus]

<i>Mimas is caught in the spotlight beneath Saturn's rings in this amazing view from Cassini. Notable is the brightened outermost edge of the A ring beyond the narrow Keeler gap and the periodic brightening of the thin, knotted F ring. Mimas is 398 kilometers (247 miles) across.<br /><br />The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera on Dec. 18, 2004, at a distance of 2 million kilometers (1.3 million miles) from Mimas and at a Sun-Mimas-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 105 degrees. The image scale is about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) per pixel. The image has been magnified by a factor of two and contrast enhanced to aid visibility. </i> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[peteb]

Jonathan Lunine, a scientist at the U. of Arizona, just gave a webcast talk on Titan science. Lots of good information but unfortunately the accompanying slides have not been posted. Apparently the descent at higher altitudes was rougher than anticipated: at around 100 km Huygens swung as much as 60 deg from vertical, perhap close to parachute collapse according to Lunine. By the nominal descent profile, 100 km altitude would have been reached at about 20 minutes after entry so the swinging may have been after the final smaller parachute was deployed. <br />http://nai.arc.nasa.gov/seminars/index.cfm#1

 

[Leovinus]

<i>Now, in southern summer, Saturn's shadow stretches across the sunlit southern surface of its rings. Saturn's moon Janus orbits just outside of the main rings and appears below them in this scene. Janus is absolutely dwarfed by the bulk of its gigantic parent. Janus is 181 kilometers (113 miles) across.<br /><br />Bands of ring material within the Cassini Division are visible here, near the outer edge of the bright B ring. The planet's night side is visible at the right. This view is from Cassini's vantage point beneath the ring plane.<br /><br />The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft wide angle camera on Jan. 17, 2005, at a distance of approximately 1.2 million kilometers (746,000 miles) from Saturn. The image scale is 66 kilometers (41 miles) per pixel. Janus was brightened by a factor of two, and contrast in the scene was enhanced to aid visibility. </i> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[bobvanx]

Calli, all these great pictures of rings must be driving you into nearly overwhelming joy.

 

[sky5000]

I wonder, which page do you guys prefer - the ESA one:<br /><br />www.esa.int<br /><br />or the Wikipedia one<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huygens_probe<br /><br />Personally I think the ESA site is a real mess..<br />

 

[serak_the_preparer]

You could be right. : )<br /><br />Wikipedia always does an excellent job. One of my favorite sites.<br /><br />Thanks for the link!

 

[Leovinus]

<i>In a dazzling and dramatic portrait painted by the Sun, the long thin shadows of Saturn's rings sweep across the planet's northern latitudes. Within the shadows, bright bands represent areas where the ring material is less dense, while dark strips and wave patterns reveal areas of denser material.<br /><br />The shadow darkens sharply near upper right, corresponding to the boundary of the thin C ring with the denser B ring. A wide-field, natural color view of these shadows can be seen in (PIA06164).<br /><br />The globe of Saturn's moon Mimas (398 kilometers, or 247 miles across) has wandered into view near the bottom of the frame. A few of the large craters on this small moon are visible.<br /><br />The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera on Jan. 18, 2005, at a distance of 1.4 million kilometers (889,000 miles) from Saturn using a filter sensitive to wavelengths of infrared light centered at 752 nanometers. The image scale is 9 kilometers (5.5 miles) per pixel. </i> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[toymaker]

This image is just...incredible...God I wish It would be in colour...Is there a chance there is a colour version anywhere ?

 

[Leovinus]

This is the color image referenced above. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[Leovinus]

<i>This view of the trailing hemisphere of Saturn's moon Rhea shows the region's bright wispy markings, but also shows off the moon's craters in great detail. Of particular interest to imaging scientists is the distribution and orientation of the many craters with polygonal rims. These are craters with rough, angular shapes, rather than smooth, circular ones. Rhea is 1,528 kilometers (949 miles) across.<br /><br />This image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera on Jan. 16, 2005, at a distance of approximately 500,000 kilometers (311,000 miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 35 degrees. (PIA06578 is a true color version of this image.) Resolution in the original image was about 3 kilometers (2 miles) per pixel. The image has been rotated so that north on Rhea is up. Contrast was enhanced and the image was magnified by a factor of two to aid visibility. </i> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[serak_the_preparer]

<i>Sorry, I been really busy this week and this is the first I've seen this. Thanks for the link, I've bookmarked it for later consumption. (5am here now, really should go bed )<br /><br />I've watched all the commentarys for all 4 Futurama seasons now and I can tell you the team really are geeks and know their math.</i><br /><br />No problem, Flynn. Too many threads to keep track of around here. Besides, we both know time on the Internet isn't like time in the real world.<br /><br />It made me sad when the show was canceled - was hoping, I think, for the torch to be passed from the Simpsons to Futurama. Maybe some networks are better at supporting quality programming than others?<br /><br />Not sure, but I believe some of those involved in both Groening shows may actually hold degrees in mathematics. That site probably mentions it.<br /><br />Hope you like the link. : )

 

[flynn]

Yeah link was great, and indeed they are experts in both maths and space science as they pointed out to everyone who wrote in to nit pick. Watching with the commentarys on really opened my eyes to how far the guys would go to get things right.<br /><br />Wish I had their skill at maths, really struggling at the minute. Bloody thermal-dynamics!!!! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#800080">"All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring" - <strong>Chuck Palahniuk</strong>.</font> </div>

 

[fangsheath]

I can't get the link to the new anaglyphs at the UA DISR site to work, has anyone seen them anywhere else?<br /><br />http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~kholso/data.htm

 

[fangsheath]

Disregard, they are working now.

 

[paulvwwhalen]

Has anyone a link to any Atmospheric/soil/water testing results for Titan?<br />I have been searching for some element readings doggishly to no avail...<br />Thanks

 

[fangsheath]

I made these anaglyphs from the images recently posted on the DISR site. The story they tell is, in my view, of a dynamic landscape of shifting and flowing ice. It is well that the probe landed in the “lowlands,” otherwise we would no doubt be leaning toward interpreting them as sloshing seas (not that there may not be vast bodies of liquid beneath the surface). In fact this area has some interesting topography of its own, and somewhat reminds me of partially frozen bays, upon which the forcing together of ice sheets has produced piles of ice. On the uplands I see clear indications of very active uplift processes and upwelling of fluids along channels, which have subsequently frozen and produced natural levees. The whole place seems very “fluid” to me, compared to your typical terrestrial landscape.