Cassini/Huygens Mission Update Thread

[decepticon]

Those animations are great. Oddly I see no other moon flybys.<br /><br />Its sad that the cassini site does not even offer any detailed flybys as this site did with Iapetus.<br /><br />Thanks PeteB!

 

[remcook]

Ringscape In Color<br />July 22, 2004 <br /><br />http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/gs2.cgi?path=../multimedia/images/rings/images/PIA05421.jpg&type=image<br /><br />amazing colour image of Saturn's rings

 

[Leovinus]

Here's the pic.<br /><br /><i>Nine days before it entered orbit, Cassini spacecraft captured this exquisite natural color view of Saturn's rings. The images that make up this composition were obtained from Cassini's vantage point beneath the ring plane with the narrow angle camera on June 21, 2004, at a distance of 6.4 million kilometers (4 million miles) from Saturn. The image scale is 38 kilometers (23 miles) per pixel.<br /><br />The brightest part of the rings, curving from the upper right to the lower left in the image, is the B ring. Many bands throughout the B ring have a pronounced sandy color. Other color variations across the rings can be seen. Color variations in Saturn's rings have previously been seen in Voyager and Hubble Space Telescope images. Cassini's images show that color variations in the rings are more pronounced in this viewing geometry than they are when seen from Earth.<br /><br />Saturn's rings are made primarily of water ice. Since pure water ice is white, it is believed that different colors in the rings reflect different amounts of contamination by other materials such as rock or carbon compounds. In conjunction with information from other Cassini instruments, Cassini images will help scientists determine the composition of different parts of Saturn's ring system. </i> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[aaron38]

Holy Shi.....<br /><br />I've been waiting for a Cassini picture to just WOW me. It's like a river of light! That's beautiful.<br /><br />

 

[silylene old]

That is so pretty ! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><em><font color="#0000ff">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</font></em> </div><div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><font color="#0000ff"><em>I really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function.</em></font> </div> </div>

 

[petepan]

Thats an awesome pic Leovinus, thank you for sharing it with us. Please keep em coming. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />Cheers<br />Peter

 

[Leovinus]

What I think is awesome is that the thing is so close that Saturn can't fit in the whole frame. In every picture of Saturn you've ever seen from Earth, you *always* see the whole planet. It would be cool to be riding on that probe and just being able to look around. Ah well, Cassini will have to be our eyes for us. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[Leovinus]

<i>Saturn's brilliant jewel, water-ice-covered Enceladus, is the most reflective body in the solar system.<br /><br />Reflecting greater than 90 percent of the incidental sunlight, this moon was the source of much surprise during the Voyager era. Enceladus (pronounced "en-SELL-uh-duss"), exhibits both smooth and lightly cratered terrains that are crisscrossed here and there by linear, groove-like features. It also has characteristics similar to those of Jupiter's moons, Ganymede and Europa, making it one of Saturn's most enigmatic moons.<br /><br />Cassini will investigate its rich geologic record in a series of four planned close flybys. The first flyby is scheduled for Feb. 17, 2005.<br /><br />The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera on July 3, 2004, from a distance of 1.6 million kilometers (990,000 miles) from Enceladus and at a Sun-Enceladus-spacecraft, or phase angle of about 103 degrees. The image scale is 10 kilometers (6 miles) per pixel. Enceladus is roughly 499 kilometers (310 miles) across. The image has not been magnified. </i> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[Leovinus]

<i>Like a half-full moon, cratered Tethys hangs before the Cassini spacecraft in this narrow angle camera view taken on July 3, 2004.<br /><br />Voyager images showed a large fracture on Tethys about 750 kilometers (470 miles) long (not seen in this view). Cassini will investigate this and other features on Tethys during two planned flybys, the first occurring on September 24, 2005. Tethys is 1,060 kilometers (659 miles) across.<br /><br />The image was taken in visible light from a distance of 1.7 million kilometers (1 million miles) from Tethys and at a Sun-Tethys-spacecraft, or phase angle of about 97 degrees. The image scale is 10 kilometers (6 miles) per pixel. </i> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[cosmictraveler]

Looks a little like our own moon doesn't it? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>It does not require many words to speak the truth. Chief Joseph</p> </div>

 

[Leovinus]

Yep: Round, colorless, and cratered. Our Moon has more "seas" than this one, however. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[Leovinus]

<i>Soon after orbital insertion, Cassini returned its best look yet at the heavily cratered moon Mimas (398 kilometers, 247 miles across). The enormous crater at the top of this image, named Herschel, is about 130 kilometers (80 miles) wide and 10 kilometers (6 miles) deep.<br /><br />The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera on July 3, 2004, from a distance of 1.7 million kilometers (1 million miles) from Mimas and at a Sun-Mimas-spacecraft, or phase angle of about 102 degrees. The image scale is 10 kilometers (6 miles) per pixel. The image has been magnified by a factor of two to aid visibility. </i> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[CalliArcale]

Ahhh, finally another picture of Herschel! Mimas is so cool, and not just because it looks so much like the Death Star. It's just plain cool. <img src="/images/icons/cool.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[odysseus145]

I believe that Tethys has an impact basin larger than Mimas, known as the Odysseus Basin. <img src="/images/icons/cool.gif" /><br /><br />http://www.solarviews.com/cap/sat/tethys5.htm <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[silylene old]

Yes, but the Tethys big impact basin has slumped a lot and lost much of its original topography, such it doesn't look as prominent. Probably due to a lot of ice in this moon's crust. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><em><font color="#0000ff">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</font></em> </div><div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><font color="#0000ff"><em>I really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function.</em></font> </div> </div>

 

[odysseus145]

It must have looked incredible when it was first created <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[jcdenton]

Hell that does look like a deathstar. Wonder what caused the lump in the middle. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[decepticon]

It looks like most of saturns moons have huge craters. You can also add Rhea Titan and Iapetus to the death star look.

 

[Leovinus]

<i>A day after entering orbit around Saturn, Cassini sped silently past Titan, imaging the moon's south polar region. This natural color image represents Cassini's view only about two hours after closest approach to the moon.<br /><br />The superimposed coordinate system grid in the accompanying image at right illustrates the geographical regions of the moon that are illuminated and visible, as well as the orientation of Titan -- lines of longitude converge on the South Pole above the center of the image. The yellow curve marks the position of the boundary between day and night on Titan.<br /><br />Images taken through blue, green and red filters were combined to create this natural color view. The images were obtained using the Cassini spacecraft wide angle camera on July 2, 2004, from a distance of about 347,000 kilometers (216,000 miles) from Titan and at a Sun-Titan-spacecraft, or phase angle of 62 degrees. This view is an improvement in resolution of nearly a factor of four over the previously released natural color view of Titan. The image scale is 21 kilometers (13 miles) per pixel. </i> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[odysseus145]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>Wonder what caused the lump in the middle<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br /><br />That is a central formed in large craters. Here is a good website explaining this. http://www.solarviews.com/eng/tercrate.htm <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[jcdenton]

Thanks! Just the info I was looking for. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[Leovinus]

<i>Following its first flyby of Titan, Cassini gazed back at the smog-enshrouded moon's receding crescent. This natural color view was seen by the spacecraft about one day after closest approach. The slight bluish glow of Titan's haze is visible along the limb.<br /><br />The superimposed coordinate system grid in the accompanying image at right illustrates the geographical regions of the moon that are illuminated and visible, as well as the orientation of Titan -- lines of longitude converge on the South Pole near the moon's eastern limb. The yellow curve marks the position of the boundary between day and night on Titan.<br /><br />Images taken through blue, green and red filters were combined to create this natural color view. The images were obtained with the Cassini spacecraft wide angle camera on July 3, 2004, from a distance of about 790,000 kilometers (491,000 miles) from Titan and at a Sun-Titan-spacecraft, or phase angle of 115 degrees. The image scale is 47 kilometers (29 miles) per pixel. </i> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[Leovinus]

One thing I don't understand is why they even bother putting a coordinate grid over the picture. It's not as if you can make out even a single ground feature or interesting cloud. It's a uniform brown ball. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[mrmorris]

Without the coordinates I (and I think most people) would have assumed that the North pole was at the top. Featureless it may be -- but it's still best to let observers know what they're looking at -- just in case.

 

[Leovinus]

They're looking at a featureless sphere. Earlier pictures taken in either IR or UV showed some features and for that I'd say coordinates are useful. Oh well. Let them have their fun! I'm just glad to have the pics. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>