Mystery Pioneer Image Of Jupiter |
Mystery Pioneer Image Of Jupiter |
Jul 20 2005, 02:02 AM
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#1
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Member Group: Members Posts: 212 Joined: 19-July 05 Member No.: 442 |
This is my first post on this forum, so I thought I'd try and make it interesting
I own a book entitled "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Space Exploration" (Richard S Lewis, Salamander Books, 1983). It is a 'coffee table' history of space exploration up to that point. One picture on page 203 is . It is an image of the north temperate region of Jupiter allegedly taken by Pioneer 10. What the picture also shows is what appears to be a 'spacecraft' flying across the image from upper left to upper right leaving a bluish exhaust trail. I had planned to include a scan of the image, but my scanner is kaput, so the directions will have to suffice. First, has anyone else seen the picture in question? Second, does anyone have any idea what might have produced this picture (other than a 'spacecraft')? Is there a Pioneer Image archive? |
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Guest_BruceMoomaw_* |
Jul 20 2005, 07:29 AM
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Guests |
I need to take a look at the book -- but this has GOT to be either an electronic flaw in the picture itself, or a simple printing error on that page. Rest assured that if anything that peculiar-looking and real had shown up on any of the Pioneer photos, we would have heard about it by now.
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Jul 20 2005, 07:54 AM
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#3
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Member Group: Members Posts: 212 Joined: 19-July 05 Member No.: 442 |
QUOTE (BruceMoomaw @ Jul 20 2005, 03:29 PM) I need to take a look at the book -- but this has GOT to be either an electronic flaw in the picture itself, or a simple printing error on that page. Rest assured that if anything that peculiar-looking and real had shown up on any of the Pioneer photos, we would have heard about it by now. I'm inclining towards that interpretation myself. There is one other image in the book in the Jupiter section which is described as a computer manipulation of several Voyager images to get a 'pole down' (or up) view of Jupiter. I had a look at the Pioneer Jupiter images in the online copy of Pioneer Odyssey, there are three possible candidates for the image in the book. (here, here and here.) I'm beginning to suspect that these images were 'stiched' together to make the image shown on page 203 and that the 'spacecraft' was added at that time, I'm going to check the picture credits in the book. |
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Jul 20 2005, 08:00 AM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1870 Joined: 20-February 05 Member No.: 174 |
*Anyway, it would have been physically impossible for Pioneer to take a picture of an object moving at all rapidly between the spacecraft and jupiter. Pictures were scanned one pixel at a time by the rotation of the spacecraft and the stepping of the 1-inch "telescope" one pixel per rotation, and built up over 10 min to 1/2 hour.
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Jul 20 2005, 10:38 AM
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#5
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Member Group: Members Posts: 212 Joined: 19-July 05 Member No.: 442 |
This is an update to my earlier post, which I sent without having a copy of the book to hand.
The computer manipulated image of the polar clouds of Jupiter is on page 213 of the edition I have. After carefully comparing the picture on page 203 with the most likely of the images in Pioneer Odyssey I think that the p152 image is the best match, but I still cannot link the image to a specific picture. Checking the image credits at the back of the book indicates that the picture in question is credited to NASA. The more I look at the image I cannot shake the suspicion that someone added the 'spacecraft' to the image, but without being able to match the picture to a published image I will not say this for certain. Ed, you're also right, there is no way that Pioneer could have captured the image in question. |
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Jul 20 2005, 12:33 PM
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Interplanetary Dumpster Diver Group: Admin Posts: 4404 Joined: 17-February 04 From: Powell, TN Member No.: 33 |
Might it be one of the moons with the blue channel image not properly aligned?
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Jul 20 2005, 04:22 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 212 Joined: 19-July 05 Member No.: 442 |
QUOTE (tedstryk @ Jul 20 2005, 08:33 PM) No, firstly the rest of the image is properly aligned. Second the object looks like someone has added a 'rocketship' to the picture. I'm going to visit a net cafe with a scanner tomorrow and try and get an image to post to the forum. |
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Jul 21 2005, 12:49 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 212 Joined: 19-July 05 Member No.: 442 |
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Jul 21 2005, 01:49 PM
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14431 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
Looks like it's much higher resolution that the actual image in question, and thus could well be an artifact introduced while printing the book?
ODug |
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Jul 21 2005, 02:33 PM
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#10
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Member Group: Members Posts: 524 Joined: 24-November 04 From: Heraklion, GR. Member No.: 112 |
What kind of image is this, could it maybe a drawing ?
Jupiter appears as an "hexagonal" network of red and yellow colors (much like C-60, a fullerene ) The rocket is clearly added afterwards, maybe this was a joke for the book editor ? |
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Jul 21 2005, 02:36 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 345 Joined: 2-May 05 Member No.: 372 |
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Jul 21 2005, 02:37 PM
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Interplanetary Dumpster Diver Group: Admin Posts: 4404 Joined: 17-February 04 From: Powell, TN Member No.: 33 |
It is definitely not an original part of the image. It is out of sync with the IPP scan lines, so instrument noise is out of the question. It is either something drawn in or a defect in the book printing.
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Jul 21 2005, 03:25 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 477 Joined: 2-March 05 Member No.: 180 |
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Jul 21 2005, 03:27 PM
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#14
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Member Group: Members Posts: 154 Joined: 17-March 05 Member No.: 206 |
It appears to me the author or illustrator of the book had a little fun and drew in the image of the spacecraft.
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Jul 21 2005, 03:29 PM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2454 Joined: 8-July 05 From: NGC 5907 Member No.: 430 |
QUOTE (Chmee @ Jul 21 2005, 10:27 AM) It appears to me the author or illustrator of the book had a little fun and drew in the image of the spacecraft. I think this is how the Mars Face got its start. -------------------- "After having some business dealings with men, I am occasionally chagrined,
and feel as if I had done some wrong, and it is hard to forget the ugly circumstance. I see that such intercourse long continued would make one thoroughly prosaic, hard, and coarse. But the longest intercourse with Nature, though in her rudest moods, does not thus harden and make coarse. A hard, sensible man whom we liken to a rock is indeed much harder than a rock. From hard, coarse, insensible men with whom I have no sympathy, I go to commune with the rocks, whose hearts are comparatively soft." - Henry David Thoreau, November 15, 1853 |
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