Enceladus Plume Search, Nov. 27 |
Enceladus Plume Search, Nov. 27 |
Nov 24 2005, 04:01 PM
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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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Dec 1 2005, 02:47 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 809 Joined: 11-March 04 Member No.: 56 |
Enceladus is the "shiniest" moon in the solar system, with an albedo of .99. Is it jumping the gun to assume that this is because it is continually being re-frosted with the material from these plumes? If not, are there any differences in reflectivity -- e.g., is the south pole "shinier" than the north pole? Or does the material just float all the way around the moon and coat it pretty much evenly?
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Dec 1 2005, 02:55 PM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3648 Joined: 1-October 05 From: Croatia Member No.: 523 |
QUOTE (David @ Dec 1 2005, 03:47 PM) Enceladus is the "shiniest" moon in the solar system, with an albedo of .99. Is it jumping the gun to assume that this is because it is continually being re-frosted with the material from these plumes? If not, are there any differences in reflectivity -- e.g., is the south pole "shinier" than the north pole? Or does the material just float all the way around the moon and coat it pretty much evenly? Those are perfectly logical assumptions. Any snow/ice lying around long enough is bound to become dirty due to constant micrometeoroid bombardment. It has long been realized that the south hemisphere is whiter and younger than the north hemisphere, which does show some signs of dust contamination. There are even recent Cassini global false color mosaics that show the difference in appearance of the southern and northern regions. Apart from being fresh ice, the ice in the tiger stripes is noticeably bluer which says the ice grains are coarser and hence younger because long exposure to cosmic radiation destroys the fine crystalline structure. At least so I've been told... Regarding the boulders in the highest resolution image, what are the odds they were expelled during an explosive eruption in the past? -------------------- |
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