A broader view of Belus Linea was obtained at the northern end of the 17ESREGMAP transect, which is contiguous with the two sections shown at the beginning of this thread. On E19, an observation was targeted to fill a gap in this portion of the transect as well. The global mosaic from E14 was used here to produce a color version of the scene.

17/19ESREGMAP Belus Linea greyscale

Color version


In addition to this, medium-resolution color images were taken of this area on E11(300m/pxl, narrow strip) and E19(90m/pxl, very high phase angle, oblique).

11ESCOLORS01-02

19ESCOLOR02

It is exciting to think of Europa as a world with two surfaces... a seafloor and the visible top of the icy shell. The evidence suggests that the crust is "decoupled" from the interior based on the changing orientations of overprinted surface ridges. I'm curious as to the exact mechanism that produces the wildly braided appearance of complex ridge structures like Belus Linea... I've heard the surface at high resolution described as looking like "a ball of string". I've seen models describing the process by which the bizzare cycloidal cracks form, but I have'nt seen anything modeling the formation of ridge features at fine scales. I'm sure vexgizmo might have an idea...

Right-sorry I forgot to include that. That's Niamh, a 5km-diameter impact crater.

Triple bands, labled for their appearance at low resolutions as a dark line with a central bright stripe, were seen in the G1 global mosaic to have diffuse edges, suggestive of a possible spray of fine material. Seen in greater detail during E6 at Conamara, they were instead resolved as a mass of closely spaced ridges. Belus Linea, the prominent triple band shrouded in ejecta from Mannann'an, was imaged on E14 at an apparent interruption in its otherwise continuous path.

14ESTRPBND01

context

The color images used for the "natural" mosaics in the first two posts were IR-7560 (assigned the 649nm red filter's rough values of r255/g0/b0), the 559nm green (r127/g255/b0), and the 404nm violet (r6/g0/b255). The composited image was visually tweaked to produce an approximation of the muddy reddish browns, salmon hues, and yellows shown in LPL/ASU products of the same region. The cropped color image was cut into 12 sections, rendered at 20% opacity, and visually aligned in peices over the mosaic, with overlapping seams carefully blended. Saturation was then increased, and the layered image flattened. The false color version of the E15 mosaic is the NASA/JPL release. The false color version of the E19 mosaic is the original 1996 G1 false color image, rendered transparent and positioned over the mosaic with the same technique described above.
I am probably one of the less experienced members of this community(3 weeks now!) when it comes to color processing, and the accuracy of these color products are clearly debatable. I typically lack confidence in the quality of my work. Neverless, I hope that the results are interesting and enjoyable. I have been flabbergasted by the stuff you guys are making over in the MER area, and it has been a major encouragement to work on the Galileo images.

The area to the north of the E15 mosaic was imaged in January 1999 during the E19 encounter. Also covered by G1 color data, this observation included a second, slightly closer look for stereo imaging as well.

19ESNORLAT01 greyscale

19ESNORPLN01 greyscale

3-panel color comparison

During the E15 encounter, Galileo accquired the first segments of two massive hemispheric transects. 15ESREGMAP01, on the antijovian side, covers a large area within the famous G1 false color image showing the intersection of Minos and Udaeus Lineae. Presented here is an approximate natural color version along with a comparison with NASA's beautiful and oft-reproduced false color release from 1998:

15ESREGMAP01 greyscale

Color version

3-panel comparison

Cropped scenes of several features are in the wallpapers directory of the FTP site

I feel that perhaps the scientific community at large is simply failing to communicate with the present administration in the correct language. Surely, no administration in recent history has shown greater commitment to science, reason, and the advancement of knowledge(particualry when it comes to stamping them out). And assuredly, no administration in history has shown more passion for collecting data(on us). Therefore, it is in that spirit that I propose several talking points for direct communication with Washington on the subject of Europa:

1. Fix the intelligence around the policy:

We know, for example, that Europa most likely possesses subterranean liquid. Also, spectra of Europa show evidence of hydrocarbon contaminants in the surface ice. Just which liquid or which hydrocarbons are unimportant. What is important is to use the words subterranean, liquid, and hydrocarbon repeatedly, preferrably in that order, in the same sentence, without other words in the way. The administation has great interest in and much experience with subterranean liquid hydrocarbons.

2. Make it really scary not to go to Europa:

Reconnaissanse of the Jovian system shows clear association between Europa and its neighbor Io, which possesses powerful active volcanoes and a lethal radiation environment in clear and willful violation of the UN space weapons ban. Sulphur dust is'nt the only evidence of dangerous dalliances...Europa also is within the sphere of influence of Jupiter, not the United States. Nevertheless, gravity is no less up for debate than climate change or the Big Bang, so it may not stay there...the main point to make is that we need to go to Europa before Europa comes here.

3. Consider the benefits:

Lucrative contracts for certain unnamed consulting firms are a given, especially considering the need for vast quantities of rock salt and blow dryers to mount a successful exploration campaign. And hell, if there is life down there, think of the tax revenue! The outsourcing! The low manufacturing costs!

Simply apply these three steps to your program of choice.


Believing six impossible things before breakfast,
Orion.

Here's the western view of Agneor Linea, covering the area south of the "eye" in Katreus Linea. A four-frame crop of this mosaic was released by JPL in 1999. In the context view, the brightness of the central stripe has been exaggerated to match the background images.

17ESAGNEOR03w

Context view

The high-resolution mosaic of Tyre is one of my favorite Galileo images (minus the ugly gap right in the middle of the basin). Although this was a rare example of a mosaic released in its entirety by NASA/JPL, I'm posting my take on it anyway, along with a new colorized version from the G7 data.

14ESTYREHR01

Tyre in color

No, that mine has been exhausted, and was unfortunately not very deep. Partial 1-4km scale mosaics were obtained on G1, E4, E6, G7, E12, E14, I25 and one nice full-frame view on E17. More distant, full-globe images were obtained on G2, C9, C10, G28, and I33. Eclipse and very distant plume search view were taken on C10 and C20. The exquisite color work seen here by Ted Stryk, Bjorn Jonsson, Mattias Malmer, and others covering these views, particularly the E14 mosaic, are as good as it gets.

Southeast of Mannann'an near the northern edge of Argadnel Reigo is a prominent dark spot called Castalia Macula that was imaged in detail during orbits 14 and 17.

14ESDRKSPT01

Context within 17ESREGMAP/NERTRM01

14ESDRKSPT02 color

Origin and evolution of Castalia Macula, an anomalous young depression on Europa
Louise Prockter and Paul Schenk
Received 9 September 2004; revised 7 August 2005. Available online 19 September 2005.

Abstract

Europa's Castalia Macula region was comprehensively imaged by the Galileo spacecraft on several orbits, at both local and regional resolutions and with different illumination geometries. Using these datasets we have mapped and identified the different geological units within the Castalia area, and derived digital elevation models (DEMs) of the topography within most of the Castalia Macula region. Using these data sets in combination allows us to map the geology and topography of this area in greater detail than perhaps any other site on Europa. Castalia Macula consists of unusually dark and reddish material, most of which is confined to a broad topographic depression 350 m deep located between two large uplifted domes 900 and 750 m high, to the north and south, respectively. The preservation of topography at the bottom of Castalia Macula indicates that dark material initially filled the depression to a certain depth but was subsequently removed via drainage, resulting in a dark stain up to the original equipotential surface. Superposition and topographic relationships suggest that the Castalia Macula plains deposit formed prior to uplift of both domes, and at least two distinct episodes of chaos formation have occurred near and on top of the northern dome. It appears that Castalia Macula is comparatively young and was active relatively recently, therefore it could provide an ideal place to sample material that has recently been erupted from the subsurface, and may have been in communication with Europa's ocean. These factors combine to make Castalia Macula a very attractive site for a future Europa lander.

Several remarkable regional observations were excluded from the USGS controlled photomosaic of Europa, including two large swatches of the jumbled tectonic wonderland now known as Argadnel Reigo. The eastern end of the region, imaged during the E14 encounter, is presented here:

14ESWEDGES01

Context within USGS map

Galileo obtained two high-resolution views of Agneor Linea during E17. This is the eastern one, covering the "fork".

17ESAGNEOR03e

Context view

High-resolution color

Thanks for the kind words. I'm starting to get somewhat of a grip on color compositing. Here's a portion of the E14 mosaic referred to in vexgizmo's post:

Cilix in approximate color. The green filter frame is synthetic, as it seems to be mis-linked on the PDS site. The results are pretty close to the LPL version.

15ESCILIX01

Cilix in Color

Mannann'an in approximate color. I had a rough time with this one, probably split 50-50 between positioning errors in my mosaic and the very oblique angle of the color data.

14ESCRATER01

14ESCRATER02 colorized

Libya Linea at high resolution. This view has an excellent example of the subtle undulations visible in these broad, relatively smooth expansion zones, with prominent fractures at the peak. Similar features are visible in Astypalaea Linea.

17ESLIBLIN01

Context

This is the first of several planned presentations of medium-resolution Galileo mapping. This mosaic consists of 19 images from four separate observations of the southern antijovian hemisphere of Europa, most from the very productive E17 pass. An annotated version is included, along with the low-resolution E6 view used as the backdrop.

Europa's deep south

Annotated map

E6ESGLOBAL01

I think the blobs are probably radiation noise for the most part. I'm pretty sure Galileo resolved Titan, but the smaller moons, I don't know. Ted, I thought you might have done some work on these! That one is going in the favorite obscurities file...

This may be common knowledge, but what the hell...

E18 PDS search

Theriousthly, Bruth, this harrathmenth abouth my speeth hath to thtop.

Interestingly, neighboring Thera Chaos was one of the first medium-resolution targets for Galileo at Europa during the prime mission, as it was positioned on the terminator (along with Cilix far to the north) during the C3 nontargeted encounter. Most of the structure is lost in shadow and radiation noise in the image. It's frustrating to realize how many fantastic opportunities for imaging coverage were lost to the high-gain failure. I recall seeing a footprint plot for the C3 high-res map of the terminator in the January 1996 issue of Astronomy that obviously predated the problem...

Here's the C3 image in two projections: C3ESWEDGES01c

High-resolution mosaic of a small portion of Thrace Chaos:


17ESTHRACE01

17ESTHRACE01 in context

Here's a broad view of this geographically distinctive region (insert National Geographic narrator here). This mosaic was made from two isolated frames of 17ESREGMAP01 at approximately 220m/pxl, three frames from 17ESAGNEOR01 at about 180m/pxl, and a reprojected background image from 14ESGLOCOL01 (taken from an opposite perspective and lighting geometry) at 1.4km/pxl.


Thera, Thrace, and Agneor Linea