Hit http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/keywords/dp .
The first LAMOs are here.
--Bill
LAMOs are going to be good.
Holy image compression Batman:
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20185
Something went very wrong there-- my first impression was "need to deinterlace" but it's too blocky for that.
I'm having a time figuring out what is where on these wrt the HAMOs. The shots are oblique and I'm not accustomed to the scale. I'll be better once I find the epiphany of a landmark or two.
The Azacca Crater (??) / Samhain Catena area of the LAMO images pia20184 pia20185 and pia20186 may be covered by HAMO images HO-9, 27, 42, 45 and Survey Orbit images SO-11, 48.
--Bill
Looks like we're there now! http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news-detail.html?id=4802. Probably gonna be a bit slow for a couple of days due to US holidays, but please post all relevant discussion here; thanks!
... very slow :-)
Funny that you chose today to post to this thread.
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/new-details-on-ceres-seen-in-dawn-images/
Spectacular! Unfortunately, the TIFF files on the Photojournal are identical to the JPEG files, that is, they are affected by JPEG artifacts. I wonder why they bother to post the TIFF images. There should be much more detail in the uncompressed images, whenever they become available.
Looking at the white spot, I see it's made of several smaller white spots, just like in the Occator crater.
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpegMod/PIA20193_modest.jpg
Look at the floor of Dantu!
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpegMod/PIA20193_modest.jpg
wowowowow. Impact melt craziness? And the obligatory white patch.
P
Edit: actually reminds me a bit of the 'spider' at the center of Caloris on mercury. Different materials of course but...
Since they haven't started designating LAMO images with numbers, I'm lettering them until they do.
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20191
http://i.imgur.com/Y6zQeAk.png
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20192
http://i.imgur.com/7GSJ6gA.png
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20193
http://i.imgur.com/rgW5pmG.png
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20194
http://i.imgur.com/4umlZfs.png
http://i.imgur.com/sa0zQ3y.jpg
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20195
http://i.imgur.com/y19luZq.png
http://i.imgur.com/XHJv5OL.jpg
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20296
http://i.imgur.com/dvuBn3r.png
http://i.imgur.com/y3vWKnA.jpg
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20297
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/01/lamo-7.html
http://i.imgur.com/2ojXRXY.png
http://i.imgur.com/y3vWKnA.jpg
a few low angle views from LAMO-6
PIA20296
http://imgbox.com/dlq1ziab http://imgbox.com/7HOSwTwk http://imgbox.com/YuSYTSN6 http://imgbox.com/VK9M0dnE
some more renderings
This time "Kupalo Crater"
http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/image-detail.html?id=PIA20192
http://imgbox.com/DBfCzFFI http://imgbox.com/snu1qLHv http://imgbox.com/w2UvSNaE http://imgbox.com/IZZc2lI8
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20298
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/01/lamo-8.html
http://i.imgur.com/fp8tuL4.png
http://i.imgur.com/6ATFjCm.jpg
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20299
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/01/lamo-9.html
http://i.imgur.com/ie39PPU.png
http://i.imgur.com/tjcJPzN.jpg
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/01/lamo-10-lamo-11.html
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20300
http://i.imgur.com/628snkq.png
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20301
http://i.imgur.com/AUejdTj.png
http://i.imgur.com/WXMXLzI.jpg
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/01/lamo-12.html
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20302
http://i.imgur.com/ferU39i.png
http://i.imgur.com/9VHfHQq.jpg
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/01/lamo-13.html
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20303
http://i.imgur.com/cPCbxR2.png
http://i.imgur.com/3cWyuEG.jpg
My best guess is that right after impact, the basin uplifted into something resembling the central ridge you see, and as it rapidly cooled, the exterior sort-of buckled inwards as it compressed from cooling unevenly. This would only be possible if this region is heavier in rocky material.
I will say, I am especially intrigued by the feature at center left, along the central ridge. Tall peak, central pit, who knows...
impact , stresses, land movement and so on
i bet that when the papers start coming out it will be many things all having a part
No 3d renderings yet , just a heightmap
-- 8 bit normalized 0,255
http://imgbox.com/AIERtUXd
Occator and Dantu: Before and after?
The Asterisk Central peaks are likely volcanic.
--Bill
I'd like them to be volcanic as well but there's little to show they are. No visible flows anywhere really. Not that they couldn't have long since been erased, but there's no evidence to push for it. Several mound-like features are present with what would seem to be central depressions.
Also, interesting comparison Gladstoner. I definitely think there is some resemblance here. However, I have to wonder that if they have been through similar processes, in regards to Dantu, why has a small patch of bright material near the cracks remained while everything else has disappeared, especially a bright central patch of it in the center of the central ridge. One possibility is that it has been recently active, long after most of the bight material was covered up or insolation caused the material to become less reflective. But if it was recently active, then how? Strange place.
My idea is that the really good LAMO images are spectacular and good material for papers, so they've not released them in the dozen-or-so daily images. After the papers get out and the data hits the PDS we'll have some jaw-droppers. Time will tell.
--Bill
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/01/lamo-14.html
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20304
http://i.imgur.com/3WLDPz9.png
http://i.imgur.com/6VfimKI.jpg
I think it is a central peak, some as seen on the Moon or Mercury. I study enough geology, and volcanoes. I honestly don't see a signs of volcanic activity. However, I don 't know what form would a volcano over a small body without gravity 'as Ceres.
These is the only structures that seem cones, but perhaps just a coincidence ..
This is a volcanic chain of example, not very clear volcano, but an expert recognizes obvious signs of volcano, although it is a not classical volcano
low angle renderings of that "volcano?"
http://imgbox.com/sTBGe07d http://imgbox.com/UHsiS2vp http://imgbox.com/sNvjSlru
bare mesh, mesh and a gray shader, mesh and the image texture
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20305
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/01/lamo-15.html
http://i.imgur.com/gsuiYGX.png
http://i.imgur.com/vxKdfo1.jpg
Finally, a look into Kerwan, the sand dollar.
I didn't get to watch all of the SBAG Dawn presentation this morning. Hopefully I will get an update today from the NASA public affairs office about the recording and I will post it if available. From what I did see, it was a pretty good update to the status of the mission with lots of good slides and information. The slides should be posted by the end of the day which will include a pretty good shot of Haulani in LAMO. Below is a screen grab.
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20306
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/01/lamo-16.html
http://i.imgur.com/7AWbePK.png
http://i.imgur.com/TghiO0P.jpg
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20307
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/02/lamo-17.html
http://i.imgur.com/98QO6eK.png
http://i.imgur.com/Ol7eFnc.jpg
A few low angle renders from LAMO 16
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20306
http://imgbox.com/G6GIaNMI http://imgbox.com/jSLCbSvA http://imgbox.com/XXvToUkb http://imgbox.com/nPWr1U9F http://imgbox.com/IyHZsVDS
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20308
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/02/lamo-18.html
http://i.imgur.com/wxpfaz8.png
http://i.imgur.com/h4y5lbs.jpg
lamo 18 - PIA20308
low angle illumination like this ( approx. 10Deg. ) is pushing things a bit
this required a lot of manual editing to correct the dem used
i had it inpaint the shadows and dodge and burn the heightmap
the first of the two is just a rendered mesh
the second has the texture draped over it
http://imgbox.com/UPUkZoWL http://imgbox.com/h8zjkqAV
http://imgbox.com/lC4jEGCL http://imgbox.com/rJhQUZJc
http://imgbox.com/ufErpjiH http://imgbox.com/c4YlaRj8
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20309
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/02/lamo-19.html
http://i.imgur.com/RphNhyO.png
http://i.imgur.com/AtrkyUi.jpg
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20310
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/02/lamo-20.html
http://i.imgur.com/VxNrdME.png
http://i.imgur.com/7YZqYsF.jpg
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20311
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/02/lamo-21.html
http://i.imgur.com/g3WLKFm.png
http://i.imgur.com/4VjNCJ7.jpg
Aaand....we got http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20312*
* its western rim
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20312
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/02/lamo-22.html
http://i.imgur.com/cCpUSrr.png
http://i.imgur.com/CZ9LgOE.jpg
LAMO-22 -- PIA20312
a few renders -- less impressive than i thought it would turn out
http://imgbox.com/Cu6Xdfhe http://imgbox.com/xRZC6iQi http://imgbox.com/dGVg0YVm http://imgbox.com/fFP5HKch http://imgbox.com/uyk2sw5B http://imgbox.com/KbQAT8kQ
John, its very impressive!
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20313
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/02/lamo-23.html
http://i.imgur.com/9qILJsh.png
http://i.imgur.com/Xfv9iuD.jpg
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20314
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/02/lamo-24.html
http://i.imgur.com/E9CciRu.png
http://i.imgur.com/TKfnSZs.jpg
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20315
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/02/lamo-25.html
http://i.imgur.com/uz0LGSY.png
http://i.imgur.com/kE43ae8.jpg
LAMO 26 - PIA20380
http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/image-detail.html?id=PIA20380
this one has A LOT of small craters
http://imgbox.com/oYhFkvpe http://imgbox.com/5BMNAbrJ http://imgbox.com/5NDhexHn http://imgbox.com/u9wAKbFU
http://imgbox.com/R735lDeE http://imgbox.com/zuG82PFA http://imgbox.com/4oZXPFA2
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20380
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/02/lamo-26.html
http://i.imgur.com/SXlq10u.png
http://i.imgur.com/DiRi67g.jpg
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20381
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/02/lamo-27.html
http://i.imgur.com/a65xKEQ.png
http://i.imgur.com/4QOdZSU.jpg
and the renders in Blender that go along with LAMO 27
http://imgbox.com/k4CayKu3 http://imgbox.com/8gQlsQbv http://imgbox.com/iug0gqSk
http://imgbox.com/oGxDgKub http://imgbox.com/k52ZC1Hz http://imgbox.com/AHmuZF1C
and a Google photo album of My LAMO renders
https://goo.gl/photos/iAtFUPmE4QVxpcY29
I feel like I hadn't seen some of those John. Those are all great!
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20382
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/02/lamo-28.html
http://i.imgur.com/GDyd7h2.png
http://i.imgur.com/Q84iBs3.jpg
Here's a quick gif of HAMO vs LAMO. I didn't correct for altitude and look angle distortions so it's pretty rough - but it is a nice way to show the context and improvement on this pict (LAMO 28 - PIA20382 / PIA20000)
<Click to animate>
Comparison of the recent LAMO LO-28 image with an earlier HAMO image of episodic mass-wasting features.
https://univ.smugmug.com/Dawn-Mission/Ceres/i-nft4vTd/0/O/PIA20000--HO-57--orient--enh--annot--crop--res4x%2BLO28.png
Reference:
https://univ.smugmug.com/Dawn-Mission/Ceres/i-WKKq94r/0/O/PIA19896--HO-18--orient--annot.png
https://univ.smugmug.com/Dawn-Mission/Ceres/i-QXJbjqN/0/O/PIA20000--HO-57--orient--enh--annot.png
--Bill
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20383
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/02/lamo-29.html
http://i.imgur.com/OoLUo9r.png
http://i.imgur.com/IjTcIRA.jpg
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20384
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/02/lamo-30.html
http://i.imgur.com/2lmfTUM.png
http://i.imgur.com/QhncN7y.jpg
Lamo 30 - PIA20384
http://imgbox.com/P8h3vpNq http://imgbox.com/T0LXYnUl http://imgbox.com/8O4iA7KO http://imgbox.com/Mnt37c7A http://imgbox.com/IXRa1bDV
Created a new Ceres Gallery today and moved images into it:
https://univ.smugmug.com/Dawn-Mission/Ceres-LAMO-Images/
--Bill
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20385
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/02/lamo-31.html
http://i.imgur.com/ZFRgyjQ.png
http://i.imgur.com/tAseTYG.jpg
The latest image is http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20386. I hope we get lots more of these.
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20386
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/02/lamo-32.html
http://i.imgur.com/HAWWWpt.png
http://i.imgur.com/mVCB7IG.jpg
Also, reoriented view of imaged region.
http://i.imgur.com/jkLThrn.png
Juling Crater synthetic animation. This transitions from HAMO 39 to LAMO 32 from yesterday.
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/02/juling-crater-h39-l32.html
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20387
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/02/lamo-33.html
http://i.imgur.com/EXAyRFB.png
http://i.imgur.com/1PA1WRn.jpg
Also, another orientation corrected view.
http://i.imgur.com/pbN30o0.png
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20388
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/02/lamo-34.html
http://i.imgur.com/oxeFPAl.png
http://i.imgur.com/62nq1Os.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/zSo3fko.gif
L29-L34
The bright streaks on the crater walls, landslides of bright material or salt deposits left behind by flows of liquid?
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20389
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/02/lamo-35.html
http://i.imgur.com/prMLTfw.png
http://i.imgur.com/SyXGVmj.jpg
a few renders of LAMO-35 PIA20389
http://imgbox.com/gJWYkBIv http://imgbox.com/2alR7PIN http://imgbox.com/eZAtnnNF
http://imgbox.com/Y0HTChyl http://imgbox.com/FaMkRlFm http://imgbox.com/GElqnlC7
in particular is the "wasting" area at the top of the image
Considering the extensive emplacement of impact debris mantling units all over Ceres, I would guess the top 500 to 1,000 meters of the surface is a battered, crushed layer of poorly mixed, brecciated debris. There are quite likely a huge number of salt and salty ice deposits embedded within this debris layer.
When craters are made in this kind of surface, these pockets of high-albedo salt (or salty ice) become exposed; more are exposed as mass wasting deflates large crater walls. Thus, the occasional white spots and streaks seen in crater walls.
Now, this is completely separate from directly-emplaced cryovolcanic deposits, like what we appear to see in Occator. Those (and there are quite a fewer number of them than the smaller white spots) seem to be examples of deeper material moving volcanically up to the surface from deeper layers of soft salty ice (or even liquid salty water). That's a different emplacement mechanism from most of the small bright spots we see on crater walls, I think.
Think of it this way -- take a surface composed mostly of black sand, and randomly embed a bunch of white pebbles in it. Then hit it with an impact. Your resulting crater will show mostly black sand walls, but every once in a while a white pebble will poke out through the major black sand matrix of the unit. And as crater walls recede due to mass wasting, new white pebbles are exposed. Now, just replace the black sand with the general dark material of Ceres' surface and the white pebbles with concentrations of salt and/or salty ice, and you have a model for what may well be happening on Ceres.
I can't recall what conference was going on last week but I definitely saw some graphics pop up on Twitter that showed that the Dawn team is pursuing cryovolcanic processes for Occator. There was a nice side cut-away image as well. I'll try to find it and post if do. The possibility has been floated in several other recent talks as well.
If there are deposits of white salty material embedded at random locations in the regolith, then they should be uncovered more frequently around the rims of the craters than in the centers, should they not? Cryovolcanic scenarios do seem to fit a bit better better with the "bullseye" pattern we see in places like Occator.
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20390
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/03/lamo-36.html
http://i.imgur.com/C4tsY0x.png
http://i.imgur.com/hZUgEO5.jpg
Recent LAMO imagery and a current LAMO Index map:
https://univ.smugmug.com/Dawn-Mission/Ceres-LAMO-Images/
--Bill
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20391
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/03/lamo-37.html
http://i.imgur.com/hM3UQhm.png
http://i.imgur.com/BSqQ094.jpg
LAMO -36 (PIA20390)
is a very low angle of illumination , the process i use dose not do a great job on these images
but a few areas look good
http://imgbox.com/TGSrXkrE http://imgbox.com/A5w9HZmb http://imgbox.com/QaVH3Rs9 http://imgbox.com/DnyRH4rV
http://imgbox.com/cxbptQSw http://imgbox.com/KDvYQ4Y1 http://imgbox.com/1AcsHE39
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20392
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/03/lamo-38_3.html
http://i.imgur.com/5ehaoZo.png
http://i.imgur.com/4Yk20WH.jpg
-----
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20393
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/03/lamo-39_3.html
http://i.imgur.com/wjEUPyG.png
http://i.imgur.com/OB1cnos.jpg
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20394
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/03/lamo-40.html
http://i.imgur.com/9LE0i0t.png
http://i.imgur.com/EtnvHIV.jpg
Was certainly thinking that as well Gladstoner. There is several very peculiar spots that look like very quick or non-viscous material moved quickly to fill the lower crater and surrounding area.
A checklist of interesting features in Ikapati Crater (labeled in image):
Ahuna. The closer we look, the more mysterious it becomes. I'm still thinking "my gawd, it's full of stars... "
--Bill
How large is the gap between the rim of the crater and Ahuna's slopes? The caption says 35 m/ pixel (http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/image-detail.html?id=PIA20348), so less than a kilometer separation, by my count. Is it just a coincidence that the mountain is so close?
What an odd view one would have standing on the surface there, too...
That terrain on top of Ahuna.... It just seems to have no rhyme or reason. If anything, it appears like a souffle that has risen and collapsed back down a bit (with some subsequent mass wasting around the edges).
Oh, and that hanging valley on the west side of the summit is spectacular.
LAMO 41
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/03/lamo-41.html
http://i.imgur.com/3w3dlCf.png
http://i.imgur.com/H7GFxoP.jpg
-----
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/03/ahuna-mons-in-lamo.html
Cropped and enhanced:
http://i.imgur.com/qNgxaOA.png
for lamo "PIA20348"
this is what i get in Blender
http://imgbox.com/HWHRF4GQ http://imgbox.com/2ukenUFG http://imgbox.com/3Gv1S974 http://imgbox.com/C2VqEjco
http://imgbox.com/cDelWbdH http://imgbox.com/61Ih0CIj http://imgbox.com/Qj5YUMR3
and a 8bit copy of the heightmap
http://imgbox.com/R1AHOnK7
Added the new LAMO image of Acuna Mons to the SO-HO-LO series of image:
https://univ.smugmug.com/Dawn-Mission/Ceres-LAMO-Images/i-jGwLZCt/0/O/tall_mtn_SO-HO-LO_montage.png
--Bill
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20396
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/03/lamo-42.html
http://i.imgur.com/ICcGDPP.png
http://i.imgur.com/Ns9JH4y.jpg
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20397
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/03/lamo-43.html
http://i.imgur.com/0NbggwO.png
http://i.imgur.com/dAWxYF2.jpg
Rough crosseye/anaglyph incorporating HAMO/LAMO (http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20348 and http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19631) views, lighting differences complicating, fwiw...
A few close-ups of the mount -- rotating around it
http://imgbox.com/w2jiFPOL http://imgbox.com/0pbyfLPv http://imgbox.com/HFNDych9 http://imgbox.com/sCDgkVxZ
http://imgbox.com/mzTrnefv http://imgbox.com/d5QZjxvG http://imgbox.com/J3z3PMyK
http://imgbox.com/58Canr9M http://imgbox.com/YFYUSF0Z
Color-coded elevation map of Ahuna Mons:
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20399
I've looked at the topography and general structure for 200km around Ahuna Mons and although I've found some anomalous highs and lows, and lineations related to the Urvara impact, I've not seen a "smoking gun" related to Ahuna Mons. I'm still going to cubbyhole Ahuna in the "Peculiar" slot.
https://univ.smugmug.com/Dawn-Mission/Ceres-LAMO-Images/i-xXTMzK6/0/O/survey_map_occator-annot.png
--Bill
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20398
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/03/lamo-44.html
http://i.imgur.com/UnWJfsI.png
http://i.imgur.com/PAKbham.jpg
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20400
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/03/lamo-45.html
http://i.imgur.com/sOUCFiE.png
http://i.imgur.com/jkdm0wK.jpg
Yeah, that dot is the correct scale - 2 pixels is approximately 35 meters with the 200% increase in my context image.
It's a hallmark of that low surface gravity of 0.27 m/s; even something that massive can travel a long way...
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20401
http://zldoyle.blogspot.com/2016/03/lamo-46.html
http://i.imgur.com/FOM73um.png
http://i.imgur.com/4AvvQhz.jpg
I'm not going to pretend like this wasn't painful to find. Haha.
In re LAMO 45 again, not only do we see boulders up to at least 200 meters in their longest dimension, with an awful lot in the 50-meter range, the immediate ejecta blanket is extremely distinct, particularly the extraordinarily distinct edge of the ejecta blanket itself. Boulder streams are also well aligned with the patterning in the ejecta blanket. This is a wonderful example of impact cratering, actually...
There are literally hundreds of 50- to 500-meter craters in the imaged terrain outside of the ejecta blanket, while there are less than 10 of that size (and less than half of that are 500m or more) on the imaged portion of the blanket. In fact, much of the ejecta blanket is entirely crater-free; what patches of craters that do appear in a couple of spots look like they may be patterns of secondaries from only one or two close-by impacts.
We don't have an empirically derived impact flux for Ceres, but I would think a surface this crater-free would have to be awfully young, geologically speaking. Hence my enthusiasm for a very young-looking crater, here...
-the other Doug
I wonder if that might be due to a difference in the impact flux of micrometeorites/small meteoroids compared to similar, airless surfaces we've seen at this scale, which in this size range, have all been moons. Moons would receive the typical background flux of those size objects, just as Ceres would, but there are also secondaries and sesequinaries to consider. The sesequinaries, chunks of material blasted out from other moons in the system or from the same moon but which take a longer path to come back than just a simple ballistic one, might be making relatively fresh craters in the outer solar system and the Moon look older than they otherwise would.
There are so many oddities of these impact "ejecta blankets" that I tend to think additionally of caldera "effusive blankets". These are the heady days of data collection; we still need to sit back and model processes.
--Bill
when do we see Spot 5. I can't wait at that sort of resolution my imagination is going nuts
a few images from lamo 49
http://imgbox.com/wLcFYD14 http://imgbox.com/3ZA14AOt http://imgbox.com/iV2SHB8m http://imgbox.com/eyOdKBVx
Hot from LPSC - we were shown a well-exposed image of the large bright spot in Occator. It has central fractured dome surrounded by a shallow discontinuous 'moat' and slightly elevated outer parts. It is bright, but not ice, so some kind of salt or bright mineral.
I expect there will be a release soon, as it has now been shown.
Phil
Low res pic from someone in the room (for those who can't wait)
https://twitter.com/Laurent_Montesi/status/711938488300515328
a few from LAMO 50
http://imgbox.com/0EiC2QyA http://imgbox.com/og5lfcFh http://imgbox.com/PNgiuW2z http://imgbox.com/MvZe5i9v
i am running into the "vacation slide show that never ends "
so people please point out spots on images YOU!!! want to see
Among today's image release is a large mosaic of http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/image-detail.html?id=PIA20350 showing exquisite detail.
So, basically, there's a bright white mountain in the centre of the crater. I'd like to get an oblique view of that..
I am https://twitter.com/jccwrt/status/712332068542242817 reminded of Enceladus, though it was the similarity of the central dome to craters like that that struck me.
Haven't used this process for a while but here is a blink animation I did a long while back for sub-pixeling an image of Occator in Survey Orbit.
The image is blinking between the original cropped view from http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19584, the sub-pixeling version and finally Occator in LAMO. The final LAMO image has been skewed because the original image of SO was somewhat oblique in view.
The spots a fumaroles, unremarkable except for their size and presumably duration of activity. Even then, the whole Occator region is remarkable.
https://univ.smugmug.com/Dawn-Mission/Ceres/i-CmsS2zS/0/O/PIA19889--occator--geomorphology--v1.png
--Bill
Looks almost like lava/mud flow at the edges of the http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20350 where it appears to have pooled up and cooled as the level raised against the terrain barrier, forming the raised edge at the pool boundaries.
Also dont miss the http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/image-detail.html?id=PIA20355 version.
Wonderful, and finally, Occator in exquisite detail. To backtrack a bit, the impact hypothesis is out, and the idea of water ice seem less likely now.
So salt is the winner, salts that have built up around fumaroles that carry salty water from the interior or Ceres.
Several images including one in colour http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news-detail.html?id=6168.
Some very preliminary observations and thoughts about Occator (some may have been mentioned already):
- The radial fractures at the center, surrounded by concentric fractures, seem to imply at least one cycle of uplift and subsidence.
- Could this be a variation of the process that produced Ahuna Mons?
- Most, if not all spots have a central crater-like structure.
- The dark areas on the west side of the main spot (with sharp boundaries) may be more recent talus slopes.
- The 'secondary' spots could be material that escaped from the central conduit. It could have moved along radial fractures.
- (Edit:) The spotty distribution of bright material in the smaller spots is interesting.
- The floor of Occator resembles a chunky stew. This could be the original impact melt.
And then there is this dramatic radial fracture system:
Finally, with the lowest orbit of Dawn, the bright spots have been sufficiently resolved to understand their true nature.
Evidently the impact that created Occator Crater punched through into the subsurface ocean of Ceres, and created a weak spot that has henceforth served as a conduit for cryovolcanic outflows.
The main bright spot is inside of what appears to be a volcanic caldera, a depressed area with concentric cracks around (and inside) its perimeter, produced through the collapse of the roof of a "magma" chamber after its contents were extruded. And in the center of the caldera we have fresh dome-building, where slush is apparently pushing up (quite possibly in preparation for another significant eruption in the future), and this has caused radial cracks in the center (on the slopes of the dome) where the crust has been stretched.
This is extremely similar to the processes and landforms characterizing terrestrial volcanism, the only difference being that water is the "magma" in this case.
And just as with terrestrial volcanoes, we have outlying "cinder cones," apparently associated with fractures pointing radially away from the central caldera.
While it might be suggested that these features are simply a relic of ancient hydrothermal activity spawned by the heat of the original impact, the fact that this terrain is relatively free of craters is indicative of recent and even ongoing activity, plus the observations of apparent vapor above the floor of Occator Crater, in a diurnal cycle, indicate the same. Because unless there were ongoing outflows, any such volatiles would have sublimed away to nothing long ago.
The processes occurring here are similar to what I have suggested in my "artesian hydrant" model for the otherwise-inexplicable geology of Mars' Mt. Sharp. Namely that there are conduits connecting the surface of Mt. Sharp to an underground aquifer, and which are still occasionally active, and which I deem necessary to explain the relative youth of the channel and delta deposit to which Curiosity is currently headed (an aqueous-derived landform that has a relative lack of both cratering and erosional damage).
I would predict that Ceres will become an extremely hot target for exobiological research, with a huge push for a sample-return from Occator Crater, as any recent outflows might contain not only fossil organisms, but possible viable ones that could be revived, if an outflow were sufficiently fresh. And given the relatively small mass of Ceres, landing on it and taking off would be relatively easy with existing technology (its mass is only about 1/700 that of Mars and 1/90 that of Earth's moon).
This crater (volcanic? impact?) caught my eye as it's dark and surrounded by dark material. If it's from an impact, did it somehow create/lead to the fractures it intersects with, and does this provide info on when and how quickly these events occurred? If volcanic/vent, why is the outflow/vented material dark instead of light?
It looks like it's an impact crater coincidentally superimposed on the fracture system. If you look carefully the crater is almost tangential to the fracture. My guess is that it's just covered the bright salt deposits with darker crater floor material excavated from underneath. That's telling us that the salt deposits are relatively thin, because at most they're not as thick as the crater is deep. Considering the amount of dark ejecta, they're probably significantly less so.
More observations of this amazing area (munching popcorn)...
Pict #1:
The circled areas look like smaller domes. The left one is reasonably high judging from the shadow. wish we could get in closer...
The square box looks like a vent flow - the lava flow seems to flow over the older vent/caldera/crater in the top middle of the box
Just for easier visualization to see what was going on, I superimposed the nice color dome pict over the higher brightness large grayscale mosiac. It's a little ungainly, but I like the integrated view.
Occator in 3D: https://twitter.com/Toy_Meister/status/712713108511436800
A sense of scale compared to a terrestrial volcano (Mt St Helens in Washington) (1 mile = 1.6 km). Not sure if anyone has the exact height info yet.
Definitely a possibility. There are very few similar features on Ceres, and Occator is by far the largest and most prominent. I would expect such features to be more common if they were purely endogenic, but of course that's just an opinion.
Alternatively, this may mean nothing more than that the icy crust is extremely thick and/or lacks deep cracks almost everywhere but a few select spots like this. Insufficient data at this time.
As far as the origin of the mysterious pyramid-shaped mountain (Ahuna Mons), I find it to be a bit too much of a coincidence that there is a relatively young crater of approximately the same size right next-door, and can't help but suspect that there is a connection. And I would like to suggest the following model: as the largely-water-ice crust of Ceres has continued to thicken over time (due to the internal heat source gradually running down), cracking of the crust has occurred, some of which would be polygonal in shape, and I would suggest that the crater-creating impact occurred right next to one such polygonal section, and the resultant pressure impulse in the subsurface ocean (slightly) popped that section up through the surrounding crust. And since that time, continued freezing in the subsurface ocean has pushed the polygonal section further upwards, in response to vertical pressure created by expansion of the freezing water below, and due to the fact that the cracks defining its edges (cracks which became vertical faults) de-coupled it from the surrounding crust and allowed it to move fairly independently of that crust. So this mountain is basically what is referred to as a "horst" in Earth geology, but because of the differences in crustal composition and dynamics here, there are no surrounding "grabens," and Ahuna Mons doesn't take the shape of the linear ridge that is typical of terrestrial horsts.
LAMO 53
a few renders at a low angle
http://imgbox.com/qxp1D4Zx
http://imgbox.com/zJuQsUbx http://imgbox.com/ZxCzhbKL http://imgbox.com/NbOxGzLM http://imgbox.com/7tnhANJJ
http://imgbox.com/nKtBuRNQ http://imgbox.com/4SV8q7e6 http://imgbox.com/ZvxVj23z
A summary of the formation of salt deposits as I imagine it. Many, if not all points here have or may have been mentioned or thought of already.
1. Ceres originates as accretion of rocky material and water.
2. Early, heavy meteoritic bombardment depletes crust and/or mantle of water. This possibility was mentioned somewhere recently; I had suspected this as well since the rough terrain seems to preclude water ice.
3. Differentiation of ice and rock/metal leaves ocean and/or water-rich zone in mantle, which probably occurred during bombardment mentioned above.
4. Interior water progressively freezes out, leaving increasingly concentrated salts in the remaining brine. I am reminded of pegmatites in terrestrial magmatic systems.
5. Some brine migrates toward the surface, often drying out and leaving behind deposits of salt. These are often exposed by impacts and mass wasting.
6. In some cases, the effects of large impacts manage to penetrate deep enough to reach some remaining brine at the water-rich level.
7. The highly fracture central rebounds of the large impacts provide conduits for the movement and ascent of brine. Occator is probably the most recent example of this process. Older craters, like Dantu and Ezinu, seem to show signs of reduced or extinct activity. Interestingly, these types of craters seem to be clustered over a broad area, but this may be a bias of impact occurrence and observation so far on our part, at least:
Just FYI, an interesting new study (see link) to help explain the very long runouts of the crater wall landslides all over Ceres.
http://phys.org/news/2016-04-vibrations-large-landslides-fluid.html
For those who haven't seen the 'Unveiling Ceres' animation:
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20537
Some video screen captures:
Haulani Crater:
New Dawn journal from Marc Rayman: http://dawnblog.jpl.nasa.gov/2016/03/31/dawn-journal-march-31-3/
just a few from LAMO 63
http://imgbox.com/pVIGdjyL
http://imgbox.com/ALlnZQqO http://imgbox.com/uec1pNTj http://imgbox.com/w07AGUgf
a bit out of order
LAMO 55
http://imgbox.com/yZhg30Nw
http://imgbox.com/nkQMWKqH http://imgbox.com/JNYevRni http://imgbox.com/7IgBoNWz
http://imgbox.com/8HWBkx5s http://imgbox.com/peHTaZzJ http://imgbox.com/NAo6PLRa http://imgbox.com/YBC3Wj9v
It's not a technical reason they're remaining at this altitude. I recall the entire point of stopping at LAMO was to prevent Dawn prematurely crashing into the surface (you really don't want to run into Ahuna Mons by accident!)
Higher orbits are stable enough to stay for a much longer timescale, enough to sterilize the spacecraft (though nearly a decade in space ought to be enough time, IMHO!).
We might just have to wait for Dawn 2....
We could always respond to the blog post and contact Marc as individuals on our own behalf whether that could possibly be considered.
Speaking of waiting until Dawn 2, a couple questions:
1. Can Dawn directly determine the nature of a water-rich layer within Ceres, e.g. with gravity data? Or will this have to wait for a future mission?
2. Have theoretical constraints on the nature of such a layer been determined? The rough, 'rocky' terrain seems to preclude a pure layer, while the scattered deposits of salts seem to imply some differentiation from a homogeneous rock/ice mixture.
Hey, I dream about higher resolution pictures of Occator as much as the next guy. However, I think something is being assumed here, namely that the primary purpose of the LAMO has been achieved by completing the higher resolution imaging of Ceres. But that is only part of the LAMO science objective. If I recall correctly the main point of the low orbit is to gather a good data set for the Gamma Ray and Neutron Detector. From what I remember reading years ago about a similar instrument on Mars Odyssey, the more orbits you collect data the better your composition data becomes. Lots of math algorithms crunching lots of science numbers from lots of data points yielding a higher and higher resolution composition map. So the longer they can maintain Dawn in a stable orientation to collect it's data, passing multiple times over the same terrain, the better their composition map becomes.
I think the Dawn team intends to keep that data set expanding as long as possible. Trying to power Dawn down to a lower orbit, as juicy as those new pictures sound, would put an end to the LAMO data collection for the GRAND instrument.
Again, most of this is my recollection, explained with lots of hand waving and general vague notions.
Ending the mission early would sacrifice filling in as much of the south polar region as possible. It will be November before the solstice arrives and Ceres begins to get primary illumination in the southern hemisphere. For several months after that there will be more and more of the southern polar areas coming out of shadow where they are locally depressed (like basins). If those areas don't get photographed in the coming months, it could be decades. That plus what Mariner9 mentioned.
I spotted an interesting light-colored patch inside one of the smaller craters in LAMO 68. If I lighten the shadows I see this lobate object on a north-facing slope:
not much lighter
px value of 24 in a 23 background
false color
http://imgbox.com/uewHtLto
I agree it's not much. But look at two other high latitude craters:
PIA20409
seeing as the images on the photo journal are normalized 5% to 95% 8 bit jpg's
and the pds img files are 16 bit unsigned
http://sbn.psi.edu/archive/dawn/fc/
we really will need to see the EDR's to get any details
LAMO 68 is at the edge of getting good looking mesh
http://imgbox.com/pcEZH0Wm
http://imgbox.com/FZdiNupC http://imgbox.com/HV11WPxx http://imgbox.com/6cqzkwFi
New Scientist https://www.newscientist.com/article/2085288-nasas-dawn-probe-may-visit-third-asteroid-after-ceres-and-vesta/ that there's a proposed extension to a third asteroid.
There must be something on a very similar orbit to Ceres; the delta-v remaining is pretty low by now. It would be great to see but Dawn isn't really built to do flybys, is it? Wonder how much Dawn can actually accomplish on a short time scale with a moving target (just tempering my enthusiasm...)
The target asteroid only needs a similar orbit if the purpose is to match velocity and achieve orbit around it. If just a flyby is all that is required, then the target could be in a very different orbit from Ceres that Dawn could intersect at the appropriate time.
I rather doubt they would go to the effort to escape Ceres just to do a flyby, because as it has been pointed out the spacecraft was designed with orbital studies in mind.
Release LAMO 71
http://imgbox.com/AG4wOVCi http://imgbox.com/Hm4m5Bms http://imgbox.com/IHpyRUx2 http://imgbox.com/NlpLwmmO http://imgbox.com/aE3IrHBe
Seems that there really is a http://www.universetoday.com/128547/dawn-just-wants-make-probes-look-bad/ for a mission extension to visit another asteroid.
Be interesting to see how this plays out in terms of getting an extension given the spacecraft's overall health. The strongest argument in favor of this may be to prevent Dawn from crashing into Ceres at EOM.
I think we should squeeze as much data from Ceres as the mission allows.
SF has always viewed Ceres as a staging post between the inner and outer
Solar System. Initial results (brine/subsurface H2O) makes Ceres
appear as a nice, some may say, balmy stop over.
Why cant we just go an even lower descent on Ceres. Or are we not calibrated for that?
A new target does not make a lot of sense imo, it wont be anything bigger than a few football fields unless there is something i am missing
Really can't see this as being anything other than a flyby, and with a limited chance of success at that given the age and health of the spacecraft. In fact, I would characterize it as a sort of enhanced end-of-mission disposal plan. Main goal does seem to be ensuring that Dawn doesn't impact Ceres and thus violate the planetary protection protocols.
NOTE: If this becomes confirmed as a real thing we'll split it off as its own thread. Main focus here will continue to be LAMO operations, of course.
LAMO - 77
http://imgbox.com/YjfaG5Jx
a few , there is a interesting dip in the rim and ripples in the floor of the crater
http://imgbox.com/jJ8hKbTg http://imgbox.com/XmfDO8o1 http://imgbox.com/C0N6wYtw http://imgbox.com/7UYVCNnz
New LAMO Index map to LO-79 and a montage of Messor caldera (LO-1 + LO-77).
https://univ.smugmug.com/Dawn-Mission/Ceres-LAMO-Images/
--Bill
Interesting quote from this month's http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs/marc-rayman/0504-dawn-journal-a-new-angle-on-ceres.html
No big releases, just looking forward to completing the http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status.html imaging campaign. Here's a partial Ahuna shot http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/image-detail.html?id=PIA20579 crossed with the older http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpeg/PIA20348.jpg for stereo.
it has been a bit
LAMO 107 -PIA20647.tif
http://imgbox.com/5bYwwLt9
http://imgbox.com/XPItxF6A http://imgbox.com/I7yVBCLW http://imgbox.com/5TVKCknC http://imgbox.com/452uAvmw http://imgbox.com/mBG03Zao
centering in on the wasting area in between the two craters
A great new picture of Occator:
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpeg/PIA20653.jpg
Phil
crossed with the other http://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/images/9-small-bodies/2016/20160330_PIA20350.jpg image it's hard to get a good result despite attempts to adjust for lighting differences.. but there is an intriguing morsel of relief in the main crater..
New press release on Occator:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6547
Highest concentration of carbonates beyond Earth!
and here is the paper, if you have access to Nature:
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature18290.html
Looks like this won't be the last thread in this subsection of the board after all: extended mission approved! http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/journal_06_30_16.html
2019 flyby of 145 Adeona with departure later this year!
it looks like the image of the day is gone
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/dawn/main/multimedia/images/
i am getting a 404
MOD NOTE: At this time it appears that no official announcement concerning future targets for Dawn has been made by NASA. Therefore, any posts concerning that are, for now, completely speculative.
I did think it strange that there were just 'xx' in the spaces in the last paragraph where Rayman posts the statistics for the month (like it was incomplete). Looks like his journal was a bit ahead of the curve. Maybe they're preparing a special announcement?
NASA must decide soon on Dawn mission’s next act
http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/06/30/nasa-must-decide-soon-on-dawn-missions-next-act/
That is a very helpful article. Thank you!
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-horizons-receives-mission-extension-to-kuiper-belt-dawn-to-remain-at-ceres.
dawn is supposed to use the drive and in 2019 leave ceres and move on to 145 Adeona
or not ????
Nope. NASA chose the option to keep Dawn at Ceres.
Aha they did indeed choose to continue to monitor Ceres as long as possible. A bit surprising, but as this paragraph stated, there is a possibility that Ceres might come up with some additional surprise as it get a bit of balmy summer weather.
“The long-term monitoring of Ceres, particularly as it gets closer to perihelion – the part of its orbit with the shortest distance to the sun -- has the potential to provide more significant science discoveries than a flyby of Adeona.”
....and the same text mention that New Horizons extended mission have been approved.
crosseye taken from releases http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/image-detail.html?id=PIA20653 and http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/image-detail.html?id=PIA20831, centering on a small light spot to the right of the main Occator dome area.
Now that we are staying (perpetually in LAMO?), it will be interesting to monitor if changes occur in this area and otherwhere.
It's interesting to note that the Galilean moons Ganymede and Callisto also show clay minerals on the surface like Ceres. Can anyone elaborate on this?
The presence of clays implies rock altered in an aqueous environment. With proposed subsurface liquid water deposits, either ancient or current, within each of these bodies, I am thinking it's not difficult to understand how such clays form. How they got to the surface, that's another matter, though I imagine impacts have had something to do with it...
-the other Doug
From GSA meeting abstracts:
"CERES EVOLUTION BEFORE AND AFTER DAWN"
" In this new study we propose one possibility is that Ceres accreted as an ice and silicate mixture after short-lived radionuclides in CAIs had significantly decayed, i.e. nearer 5 my after CAIs, and thus differentiated less completely than for hotter models. On the other hand, the presence of heavily aqueously altered mineralogies, including probably salts, suggests extensive mixing of water and silicates, which might normally be associated with more complete differentiation. Geologically recent activity, perhaps even to the present time, seems evident from several young landforms, including protrusions consistent with diapirism and recent exposures of water ice...The presence of ammoniated minerals and what appear to be salt deposits suggest a major lowering of subsurface water ice melting temperature,."
"SURFICIAL COMPOSITION OF DWARF PLANET CERES"
"... presence on the surface of a mixture of dark carbon-rich minerals, Mg- phyllosilicates, ammoniated clays, and carbonates [4]...[bright spots] are mostly consistent with a large amount of carbonate, implying recent hydrothermal activity "
My comment: A recently active hydrothermal site would be a nice place to visit with a lander!
"ELEMENTAL CONSTRAINTS ON CERES' EVOLUTION"
"[Gamma ray spectrometer] data show that Ceres’ regolith is hydrogen rich, with an equatorial composition (Fe, K, C) similar to that of aqueously altered CI/CM chondrites."
My comment: The famous Murchison meteorite is a CM chondrite.
Looks like Ahuna may be volcanic after all! A tenuous, temporary atmosphere was detected as well.
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6611
Now that we know the composite and internal structure of ceres, we can exclude a possible liquid salt water layer under its surface?
Evidence of water found in Oxo Crater:
Danielle, to my knowledge there have been no conclusions published in peer-reviewed scientific journals to that effect one way or another. Certainly no authoritative opinions concerning that or any other attribute of Ceres (or any other body) are to be derived from our discussions here. UMSF is not a peer-reviewed scientific journal.
"And now for something completely different ..."
it has been a bit since i did a 3d rendering of a crater on Ceres
release #170 "PIA20932"
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20932
http://imgbox.com/hMZT2ICD
http://imgbox.com/kXh3a71Z http://imgbox.com/KobsN4Gc http://imgbox.com/swLukDYy http://imgbox.com/z0Hrv8ww
--
http://imgbox.com/oooqHusY http://imgbox.com/D0sFCaOC http://imgbox.com/2S92w2hk http://imgbox.com/vNZw4TQE http://imgbox.com/RjqYp6Vx
image release #172 "PIA20934"
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20934
has a nice slump/wasting of a rim
http://imgbox.com/j4o6cxzD
http://imgbox.com/SwP0Zk34 http://imgbox.com/ecq38Jkv http://imgbox.com/7BMzhAv1
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