Enceladus Plume Search, Nov. 27 |
Enceladus Plume Search, Nov. 27 |
Nov 24 2005, 04:01 PM
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#1
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1465 Joined: 9-February 04 From: Columbus OH USA Member No.: 13 |
Interesting item in the science plan kernel (S16) just released to the NAIF website:
OBSERVATION_ID: S1629 SEQUENCE: S16 OBSERVATION_TITLE: Plume Search SCIENCE_OBJECTIVE: Hope to detect/observe plumes, whether from volcanic activity or geysers. OBS_DESCRIPTION: Point and stare. SUBSYSTEM: ISS PRIMARY_POINTING: ISS_NAC to Enceladus (0.0,5.0,0.0 deg. offset) REQUEST_ID: ISS_018EN_PLUMES001_PRIME REQUEST_TITLE: ENCELADUS Geyser/Plume Search REQ_DESCRIPTION: 1;ENCELADUS Geyser/Plume Search 1x1xNPp -- 3 different exposures BEGIN_TIME: 2005 NOV 27 19:00:00 UTC END_TIME: 2005 NOV 27 20:00:00 UTC -------------------- |
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Nov 29 2005, 11:55 AM
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#2
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1870 Joined: 20-February 05 Member No.: 174 |
I doubt there's enough parallax during the high-phase sequence to strongly constrain the plume's sources along the line of sight, but from postings in this thread, it's going to be pretty easy to see where lines of sight to plume bases cross the terminator and cross tiger stripes near the terminator. I very strongly suspect there are multiple vents along each of the tiger stripes, with most relatively weak. This seems to me to suggest that either there are relatively few extra-warm spots exposed within a stripe at one time, the hottest being discrete plume sources, or that a more active gysering source may be involved.
I can, however, imagine a vent with the hottest ice (with the highest vapor pressure) at the bottom, spewing upwards through a fissure or pipe, producing relatively collimated plumes like we seem to see in these pics. |
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Nov 29 2005, 12:16 PM
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#3
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3652 Joined: 1-October 05 From: Croatia Member No.: 523 |
Regarding the possibility of more intense Enceladus investigation during the (hopefully) extended mission, how long will it be until the south pole dips into years-long darkness?
I take it any extended mission will need focus on the south pole observations early on to ensure good coverage of the area while it's still receiving some sunlight. Might be interesting to repeatedly fly above the tiger stripes at a very low altitude and look for small changes in the fissures/try to locate the hotspots, at the same time sniffing out the plume materials to find out the composition of the heavier components. Optional gravitational passes could (as well as CIRS nighttime temperature mapping), of course, be carried out later on when the focus shifts on Titan flybys. -------------------- |
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