Rev 126 - Feb 4-22, 2010 - Mimas (main target), Tethys, Iapetus, Calypso and mutual events too |
Rev 126 - Feb 4-22, 2010 - Mimas (main target), Tethys, Iapetus, Calypso and mutual events too |
Feb 4 2010, 01:35 AM
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#1
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Member Group: Members Posts: 813 Joined: 29-December 05 From: NE Oh, USA Member No.: 627 |
All
closest look at Mimas ... 30 minutes after periapsis on 02/13/10 at 17:25 UTC http://ciclops.org/view/6188/Rev126 "Thirty minutes after periapse, ISS will perform a targeted encounter with Saturn's innermost large icy satellite, Mimas. The altitude for this encounter is 9,510 kilometers (5,910 miles) the closest Cassini has ever gotten to this cratered moon. For this encounter, ISS will acquire three mosaics along with another observation where ISS will be riding along with the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS). ISS' first mosaic of Mimas, GEOLOG001, will start 30 minutes after closest approach when Cassini is 14,800 kilometers (9,200 miles) away from Mimas. GEOLOG001 is a seven-frame, multi-spectral mosaic of the region surrounding the crater Herschel. Herschel, at 130 kilometers (80 miles) across, is the largest impact basin on Mimas, so large that it caused significant amounts of stress on the lithosphere of the small moon and so distinctive that it helped give the satellite the nickname, "The Death Star Moon." These high-resolution observations of the basin will be used to estimate the age of the crater. Scientists will count the number of smaller craters on the basin floor, compared to other regions on Mimas, to set limits on how old the basin can be. The second mosaic, GEOLOG002, will also be a seven-frame, multi-spectral mosaic, this time covering most of the visible surface of Mimas, shown above left. The best resolutions for these two observations will be 87 meters (285 feet) per pixel for GEOLOG001 and 191 meters (626 feet) per pixel GEOLOG002. Next, Cassini will ride-along with a CIRS FP3 temperature map of Mimas' day side, acquiring six narrow-angle-camera images during the scan. Finally, ISS will acquire a full-frame, multispectral observation (GLOCOL001) of Mimas' anti-Saturn hemisphere from a distance of 70,000 kilometers (44,000 miles). Saturn will provide a backdrop for this observation." Glorious Craig |
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Feb 14 2010, 10:30 PM
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#31
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Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 5172 Joined: 4-August 05 From: Pasadena, CA, USA, Earth Member No.: 454 |
Coolness! And good eyes, Explorer1. I noticed those too Given that there's evidence for landsliding-type motion on other small worlds like Itokawa and Eros, I'd speculate wildly that's what we're looking at -- some kind of flow of the surface fluff toward local gravity lows, possibly induced by the vibration from small impacts.
Neat neat neat! Emily -------------------- My website - My Patreon - @elakdawalla on Twitter - Please support unmannedspaceflight.com by donating here.
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Feb 14 2010, 10:55 PM
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#32
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2090 Joined: 13-February 10 From: Ontario Member No.: 5221 |
So when is the Mimas image down-link? This is the best view we'll get of Mimas for a long time to come, right? The suspense is just.... ugh!
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Feb 14 2010, 11:04 PM
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#33
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Member Group: Members Posts: 646 Joined: 23-December 05 From: Forest of Dean Member No.: 617 |
I know; isn't it brilliant? Anticipation's half the fun! Every encounter is like a mini launch, orbit insertion or EDL
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Viva software libre! |
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Feb 14 2010, 11:24 PM
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#34
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The Poet Dude Group: Moderator Posts: 5551 Joined: 15-March 04 From: Kendal, Cumbria, UK Member No.: 60 |
The suspense is just.... ugh! (Obi Wan Kenobi voice on) Patience, young Explorer... impatience leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to... well, not a very nice place at all... (voice off) Seriously, just enjoy it. We're spoiled rotten nowadays, and checking again and again to see if new images are up is all part of the excitement. -------------------- |
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Feb 14 2010, 11:31 PM
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#35
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Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 3233 Joined: 11-February 04 From: Tucson, AZ Member No.: 23 |
Tomorrow 5:30am MST/12:30pm UTC, +/- 2 hours
-------------------- &@^^!% Jim! I'm a geologist, not a physicist!
The Gish Bar Times - A Blog all about Jupiter's Moon Io |
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Feb 15 2010, 11:05 AM
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#36
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1089 Joined: 19-February 05 From: Close to Meudon Observatory in France Member No.: 172 |
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Feb 15 2010, 11:41 AM
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#37
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Interplanetary Dumpster Diver Group: Admin Posts: 4404 Joined: 17-February 04 From: Powell, TN Member No.: 33 |
Here we are!!!
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/raw/rawi...?imageID=213591 http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/raw/rawi...?imageID=213654 http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/raw/rawi...?imageID=213598 -------------------- |
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Feb 15 2010, 12:15 PM
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#38
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Senior Member Group: Admin Posts: 3108 Joined: 21-December 05 From: Canberra, Australia Member No.: 615 |
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Feb 15 2010, 12:16 PM
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#39
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3648 Joined: 1-October 05 From: Croatia Member No.: 523 |
Check out that darkening creeping up the crater walls! It's looks like sediment left over from liquid evaporation. -------------------- |
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Feb 15 2010, 12:18 PM
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#40
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Member Group: Members Posts: 568 Joined: 20-April 05 From: Silesia Member No.: 299 |
Damn, the best picture is a bit overexposed.
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/imag...7/N00151520.jpg -------------------- Free software for planetary science (including Cassini Image Viewer).
http://members.tripod.com/petermasek/marinerall.html |
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Feb 15 2010, 12:19 PM
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#41
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The Poet Dude Group: Moderator Posts: 5551 Joined: 15-March 04 From: Kendal, Cumbria, UK Member No.: 60 |
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Feb 15 2010, 12:24 PM
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#42
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3648 Joined: 1-October 05 From: Croatia Member No.: 523 |
Damn, the best picture is a bit overexposed. I don't think it's overexposed. More looks like the effect of very low phase on brightness and contrast. Also, who knows what the raw contrast stretch did here. -------------------- |
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Feb 15 2010, 12:25 PM
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#43
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IMG to PNG GOD Group: Moderator Posts: 2251 Joined: 19-February 04 From: Near fire and ice Member No.: 38 |
Here we are!!! http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/raw/rawi...?imageID=213591 http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/raw/rawi...?imageID=213654 http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/raw/rawi...?imageID=213598 The last one is obviously Herschel. Very few craters on Herschel's floor and all of them are small. I expected to see some landslides on the crater rim's inside but there are none (or at least no big ones). One thing to keep in mind: The images are heavily contrast stretched because Mimas more than fills the field of view - no black space is visible. So I suspect that what's black in this image really isn't in black (in shadow). There are some WA context images, for example this one: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/raw/rawi...?imageID=213720 A nice NA global image: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/raw/rawi...?imageID=213675 A closeup of Herschel with some black space visible - the contrast stretch doesn't mess things up completely in that case: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/raw/rawi...?imageID=213654 Mimas' rough and uneven limb: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/raw/rawi...?imageID=213606 Should be plenty of images for a nice stereo-derived DEM of Herschel . The fact that the subsolar point is close to Herschel might be a problem though. |
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Feb 15 2010, 12:26 PM
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#44
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Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 3233 Joined: 11-February 04 From: Tucson, AZ Member No.: 23 |
-------------------- &@^^!% Jim! I'm a geologist, not a physicist!
The Gish Bar Times - A Blog all about Jupiter's Moon Io |
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Feb 15 2010, 12:30 PM
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#45
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IMG to PNG GOD Group: Moderator Posts: 2251 Joined: 19-February 04 From: Near fire and ice Member No.: 38 |
Check out that darkening creeping up the crater walls! It's looks like sediment left over from liquid evaporation. The image is heavily contrast stretched since no black space is visible so I think the darkening is only slightly darker than the stuff above it. Still very interesting. EDIT: From the image someone said was overexposed I now see the contrast is higher than I expected (I'm looking at the images as I type ). |
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