Fun thread: what is this a picture of?

[jaredgalen]

Yep, looks like Phobos, marsExpress image?

 

[robnissen]

Sure looks like Eros to me.

 

[nacnud]

I reckon it's phobos. See?.<br /><br />Or is linking cheating? It is a different image.

 

[CalliArcale]

You guys got this one pretty quickly. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> Yes, this is Phobos, and yes, this is a Mars Express image of it!<br /><br />Fun facts about Phobos:<br /><br />* Phobos orbits so low above Mars that although it orbits in the normal direction (prograde), it nevertheless rises in the west.<br /><br />* Phobos' penumbra touches Mars on every orbit, although it is not big enough to actually eclipse the Sun for an observer on the surface of Mars<br /><br />* The Soviet Union attempted to land spacecraft on the surface of Mars twice. Sadly, both spacecraft failed due to a design problem common between the two.<br /><br />* Phobos is commonly believed to be a captured asteroid. <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>

 

[nacnud]

I found the original on the esa website as well, it's such a good picture that its now pinned to my wall <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[CalliArcale]

Here's a fresh one. <img src="/images/icons/wink.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>

 

[nacnud]

Callisto? <br /><br /><br />Edit: speeling

 

[odysseus145]

ganyamede? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[robnissen]

Dark side of moon?

 

[gfpaladin]

Callisto

 

[JonClarke]

Definitely Callisto<br /><br />Jon <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>

 

[CalliArcale]

Yup, that's Callisto all right. It's one battered moon!<br /><br />Fun facts about Callisto:<br /><br />* Callisto is considered to have the most heavily cratered surface in the entire Solar System -- a least as far as anybody knows so far. This suggests it is also the oldest; other bodies were either reshaped by complete shattering, or by active geologic processes from their interiors.<br /><br />* It has several large multi-ringed impacts such as the one highlighted in the picture above. I'm not totally sure, but I believe that to be Valhalla, the largest of Callisto's impact basins.<br /><br />* Despite the apparent age of Callisto's surface, there is reshaping going on. It isn't totally static apart from impacts. Many of its craters lack the high mountains typical of the rings around impact basins on other worlds, such as the Moon and Mercury, and some small craters appear to have been largely erased. This may be the result of nothing more than slumping, but it isn't entirely known.<br /><br />* Callisto displays one feature not commonly visible, perhaps more due to the age of its surface than anything else: a crater chain almost certainly caused by a string of impactors. Gipul Catena, unlike the catenas on Io, is not volcanic but is believed to be the impacts from a comet which was captured by Jupiter, torn apart by tidal forces, and which ultimately impacted Cassini (much as Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacted Jupiter).<br /><br />I gotta run now, but I'll post more quiz pictures tomorrow! <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>

 

[claywoman]

Calli,<br /><br />I'm not good enough to guess at what any of these objects are but I'm learning more and more and I'm enjoying this thread tremendously!!! Thank you for it!!!

 

[CalliArcale]

Glad you're enjoying it! <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /><br /><br />I have to get to a meeting in about ten minutes, but I've got time to post a pic first. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> Guess what body this one is! (As with the above picture, you don't have to identify actual features. Just the name of the body they're on.) <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>

 

[najab]

They look kinda like Hygens' panoramas from Titan. I'm gonna say Titan.

 

[gfpaladin]

Ganymede?

 

[CalliArcale]

So far, nobody's guessed it. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /><br /><br />I will give one tiny hint, although it may not be all that helpful at first. najaB remarked that it looks similar to the radar imagery of Titan from Cassini. There is a good reason for this -- this picture was also taken using radar. <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>

 

[yurkin]

Earth

 

[bobw]

Ice on Earth? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[imran10]

Yup that has to be earth - the only other place I can think of where they have taken radar images.

 

[larper]

Yeah, my first reaction was Earth, because it is the same location with change occuring in what appears to be ice flows. We haven't stuck around anywhere else long enough to see such changes. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong><font color="#ff0000">Vote </font><font color="#3366ff">Libertarian</font></strong></p> </div>

 

[maxtheknife]

Boy, this is just like school. Guessing at questions we already have the answers to. What fun.<br /><br />Watch as their eyes glaze over..... <br /><br />What do you suppose this is? I've asked a few engineers. I'd be happy to share their thoughts if you care to acknowledge <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />Are there any thinkers on board here?

 

[telfrow]

<font color="yellow">Boy, this is just like school. Guessing at questions we already have the answers to. What fun. <br />Watch as their eyes glaze over..... </font><br /><br />If you don't want to participate, open your own thread. The photo's not up yet, but I can guess what it is... <img src="/images/icons/rolleyes.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>

 

[geneftw]

It's obviously a planet populated by a HIGHLY advanced civilization, as evidenced b......DON"T SHOOT!!! I'M ONLY KIDDING!!! <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /> <br /><br />(I won't be pestering, here.)

 

[CalliArcale]

Because it's off-topic, I've rejected that image. Post it in a new thread, Maxtheknife. This thread isn't for image analysis. It's a fun game for guessing what planet/moon/asteroid/whatever the picture might be. You're wanting to analyze what might be in an image. That's fine, but please do it in a different thread. <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>