Now, I'm usually a RAW images man - I like putting together vistas that were captured in the very recent past, and 'hot off the press' if you like.

However, I've finally got around to playing with Bjorn's awesome IMG2PNG utility and have calibrated some early Cassini views of Jupiter (the difference between the calibrated and non-calibrated images is quite staggering). Due to the lack of any RED filters, the following view was constructed using a synthetic red (sort of GREEN minus BLUE, in effect). I'm really pleased with the result:



Jupiter, as it appeared to Cassini on the 14th of October, 2000

Thanks Bjorn!

A stacked, enlarged and sharpened view of Iapteus:

Another view of a crescent Saturn; this time from the 5th December:

Machi, you are rapidly becoming one of my favourite contributors to UMSF - lovely animation!

Here's my first Saturn composite in many, many months:

<kenneth williams>
Ooooh, matron!
</kenneth williams>

Compare the new view of the flag to its appearance in the ascent film mosaic:

That very piece of insulation was indeed imaged by LRO:

For the 20th anniversary of the Neptune encounter, I've uploaded the official JPL animation of the flyby to YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdBOZWB3iAI

I have very fond memories of watching this clip over and over again as a rather eager 9-year old!

Ian.

Here's a quick-'n'-dirty mosaic of two of the raw images:

Fantastic work Ted! Makes me salivate for a Cassini-esque Neptune orbiter...

Ian.

Probable locations of LRVs (definite in the case of Apollo 16):

Apollo 11 descent footage frame compared to LRO view. Both have been oriented so that west is 'up':

Apollo 14 ascent / LRO comparison - the black arrow in both images is pointing toward Turtle Rock:

Apollo 16 ascent footage frame / LRO comparison:



Curiously, the LRV itself isn't visible, although the shadow it casts towards the east certainly is.

Apollo 11 ascent and LRO comparison:

Apollo 17 ascent and LRO comparision:

LRO view of Apollo 15 compared to mosaic made from ascent footage - the white arrow points to a piece of the descent stage insulation that was blown off during liftoff.

For a different perspective on the whole issue of moons casting shadows on the rings, here is a mosaic of a couple of HST pictures of Saturn (taken back in 1995, as far as I can recall):

Just in case an attempt at imaging the the Apollo 17 landing site really is imminent, I thought I would post this mosaic I made a while ago from frames taken from the 16-mm ascent film shot just after pitch-over. As far as I'm aware, this is currently the best overhead view of the region where Challenger landed, and it would be interesting to compare this to the putative LRO view of the same area:

As a proud Plymothian (check my profile), it's a pity I couldn't make it to the event, but I am proud that the same city historically associated with the Pilgrim Fathers has hosted this joint exhibition between NASA and ESA.

Here's the online version of the article in my local paper covering the meeting:

http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Plymo...il/article.html

Good grief! This is really coming along Stephen. I can only hope that one of the few images I contributed to this project makes the final cut!

The latest view of Titan's southern hemisphere:

Here's another view of the southern hemisphere, with Elba Facula standing out like a sore thumb:



Mezzoramia can also be seen near the terminator.

Here's my attempt at processing a global view: