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Late 'night' Phoenix Observations.
3488
post Aug 17 2008, 10:14 AM
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Hi everyone,

Nice observation.

Sol 80 @ 00:08 HRS LMST looking North.

I have cropped & enlarged the central due north position of said image.
Attached Image


1,303 Km / 809 miles to the North Pole on mars.

Andrew Brown.


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"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before". Linda Morabito on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.
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belleraphon1
post Aug 17 2008, 03:48 PM
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QUOTE (Astro0 @ Aug 6 2008, 08:00 AM) *
Belatedly, here's a movie depicting Phoenix's midnight sun.

Remember it's done as an artist's view, not the pure science.
I leave that stuff to the smart people on the forum.

Enjoy
Astro0


Boy, am I behind... (so much going on hard to keep up... ain't that great smile.gif )

Beautiful movie.... watched it for the first time today.

One of my cats, Hansel, was in my lap. When the music started her head darted up and she watched the scene intently, then slowly moved out of my lap onto the pc table and tried to tap the moving sun image of the pc screen. So, she loved it too!!!! laugh.gif

Thanks Astro0... definite keeper!!!

Craig


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AndyG
post Aug 18 2008, 12:58 PM
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QUOTE (3488 @ Aug 17 2008, 11:14 AM) *
1,303 Km / 809 miles to the North Pole on mars.

Once the sun properly sets at this latitude, there's chances to see Phobos rising to a (bizarre) couple of degrees above the horizon - I wonder if we'll see any imagery of it?

Andy
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jmknapp
post Aug 18 2008, 02:46 PM
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QUOTE (AndyG @ Aug 18 2008, 08:58 AM) *
Once the sun properly sets at this latitude, there's chances to see Phobos rising to a (bizarre) couple of degrees above the horizon - I wonder if we'll see any imagery of it?


Did you have specific dates that would be good? I just ran a quick check & it looks like Phobos max elevation for any given pass ranges from 0-1.5 degrees, so there has to be the coincidence of a "high" elevation when the sun is set. For example, on Sept. 15 Phobos rises just 0.1 deg when the sun is 0.9 deg below the horizon. On Nov. 19 Phobos rises 1.4 deg with the sun 7.1 deg below the horizon. At least that's what my software says.


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Paul Fjeld
post Sep 2 2008, 08:55 PM
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At last! Late night shot through the legs of Phoenix by the RAC. This one was taken at 2:09 am when the sun was about 3 degrees above the horizon (according to Starry Night...), so it is near to what we might have seen had they taken the shot in the week after landing. Eerie having little shadow - so the sky is brightly lit by the low sun, but the sun's direct light is attenuated so much that what shadow it casts is washed out? The later shots, taken two hours later, show more distinct shadows with the sun about 11 degrees up.

Neat pictures. Look forward to the color views our bright members will make... smile.gif
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Paul Fjeld
post Sep 2 2008, 09:08 PM
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Didn't see it earlier, but the RAC took this one through the legs at 10:30pm on SOL 96 with the sun about 1 1/2 degrees up. Very eerie...
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Stu
post Sep 2 2008, 09:27 PM
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Cute little animation here on my Gallery page if anyone wants a look...

shifting shadows


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Paul Fjeld
post Sep 3 2008, 12:07 AM
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Very cool Stu!

I thought those were RGBs so a color shot could be attempted, but can't suss out the UA lg#s.

BTW: did the question of frost on the gear strut ever get "resolved"? The low light in these shots makes it look like those are big clumps sticking to the gear. My current wondering is if the heat of the engines didn't warm up the dust so that it got a bit sticky, just like the rasp maybe heated up the ice samples and gave them some stick. Then the question of frost - the clumps look lighter - gets answered, how? That north gear is mostly shadowed so the metal keeps colder than the surface and the frost can stick around?
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slinted
post Sep 3 2008, 12:17 AM
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QUOTE (Paul Fjeld @ Sep 2 2008, 04:07 PM) *
I thought those were RGBs so a color shot could be attempted, but can't suss out the UA lg#s.

They were RGB-lit, but from what I could see, the lights didn't brighten up the scene enough to make a color image. The ambient light is just too bright for the colored lamps to make a significant contribution (at least to the level of detail visible in the raw images).
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Paul Fjeld
post Sep 3 2008, 12:59 AM
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Oh, right. The RAC doesn't have filters - just the lights.
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Gray
post Sep 3 2008, 01:09 PM
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Those images look to me like flash photos taken inside a cave. Very cool.
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3488
post Sep 6 2008, 07:27 PM
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It is very cool,

Also this @ 22:30 LMST on Sol 96. Holy Cow in complete shade.
Attached Image


Andrew Brown.


--------------------
"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before". Linda Morabito on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.
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imipak
post Sep 7 2008, 11:27 AM
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Nice image, 3488. The more time passes, the more the spotty leg puzzles me. I've not seen any suggested mechanisms that account for three key features (as I remember them, happy to be corrected!):

1. The phenomena is only apparent on one leg, of three;
2. The "spots" were apparent in the first post-landing images, but their apparent size and density increased in the first couple of weeks on the surface;
3. The existing lumps don't appear to have continued growing as the sun sinks lower in the sky and (presumably) local surface temperatures decrease; they reached their current state and stopped.

Dust and soil blown around at landing time, perhaps with a thin melted surface film of water, was been the proposed mechanism that most appealed to me, but it doesn't seem to account for points (1) and (2).

What have I missed?


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Viva software libre!
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3488
post Sep 7 2008, 11:35 AM
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Hi imipak,

My guess is that the sublimation has ceased from Holy Cow & Snow Queen.

I think that you are correct linking the cessation of the growth of the globules on the leg with the lowering Sun.

'Night time' temperatures have lowered on average 5 C / 9 F since the Solstice & that is maybe enough to make the difference. Either way, the end game for Phoenix is drawing closer now but hopefully, she will survive to mid - late November when solar conjunction is nearing & power levels will be desperate.

We are already seeing daily morning H2O frosts now, maybe in the shadows persisting into the afternoons.

Below I've cropped & enlarged the Sun just beneath the horizon on Sol 101 @ 01:23 HRS LMST.
Attached Image


Andrew Brown.


--------------------
"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before". Linda Morabito on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.
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centsworth_II
post Sep 7 2008, 03:24 PM
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QUOTE (imipak @ Sep 7 2008, 07:27 AM) *
Nice image, 3488. The more time passes, the more the spotty leg puzzles me....

It's strange, and irritating, that the strut close to the camera is pristine, while those intriguing splotches absolutely cover the more distant leg, too far away to get a good look.
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