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June 12 2007 Icy Moons (rev 46)
alan
post Jun 6 2007, 07:35 AM
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Rev 46 description available at CICLOPS

http://ciclops.org/view.php?id=3245

Some highlights:

Cassini will observe Mimas, the innermost of the mid-sized icy satellites of Saturn

June 12, Cassini makes one of its closest passes of the small, inner satellite Atlas, at a distance of only 38,000 km (24,000 mi). With an average diameter of only 31 km (19 mi), Atlas is one of the smallest moons of Saturn. Atlas will only appear to be 120 pixels across (at the equator). However, these images may still provide important clues about the formation of one of the most distinguishing aspects of the tiny satellite: its equatorial bulge. The bulge is thought to have been created by material from Saturn’s A ring being deposited preferentially along the equator of the satellite.

A number of observations are dedicated to observing some of Saturn's small moons, in order to refine scientists' estimates of their orbital paths. These sequences include observations of some of Saturn's outer satellites, such as Paaliaq, Hati, and S/2004 S13

I've seen a few of these small outer moons listed recently on the raw image page. They search tool only shows them from the last few orbits. Is this something new they are doing or have they been previously listed as Sky?
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Stu
post Jun 14 2007, 08:00 PM
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Just wondering... does anybody else live in a constant sense of amazement at the things we see now? I mean, every time we think we've seen the strangest of the strangest, the weirdest of the weird, the universe taps us on the shoulder and whispers "Pssst... look over there..." and we turn around and there's some gorram unbelievably freakish impossible new weirdest of the weird thing staring at us from the Black... ohmy.gif

When I was young and saw my first pictures of Olympus Mons and Valles Marineris I thought they were the most amazing things I'd ever seen, or would see. In the years that followed I saw phlegmy volcanoes of bubbling sulphur on Io... the cracked frozen-coffee surface of Europa... Earth as a "pale blue dot" from the edge of the solar system... a "Death Star" orbiting Saturn... the "Pillars of Creation" through Hubble's eyes... the surface of Titan, the crumbling cliffs and steep slopes of a half mile wide crater blasted out of Mars, Earth as a "star" through a gap in Saturn's rings, the sun setting behind mountains on Barsoom, Europa rising up like a phantom from behind the limb of Jupiter, streamers and ribbons of blue flame inside then plume of a volcano vomiting out of Io...

... and now this, this tiny Saturnian moon of crackling ice and accumulated scrunching snow that looks like every UFO I ever drew on the covers of my school exercise books as a kid...

Seriously, I mean it, does anyone else ever just sit back from their screens, looking at these images, and think...

Unbelievable... just unbelievable...

ohmy.gif


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Bjorn Jonsson
post Jun 15 2007, 12:06 PM
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QUOTE (Stu @ Jun 14 2007, 08:00 PM) *
Just wondering... does anybody else live in a constant sense of amazement at the things we see now? I mean, every time we think we've seen the strangest of the strangest, the weirdest of the weird, the universe taps us on the shoulder and whispers "Pssst... look over there..." and we turn around and there's some gorram unbelievably freakish impossible new weirdest of the weird thing staring at us from the Black... ohmy.gif

Well, I'm amazed and Cassini has been probably the best ever example of this.

A related observation: I'm amazed at just how different all of these satellites/solar system bodies (and not just those at Saturn) can be from each other, especially when they get reasonably big, say 250+ km in diameter (or length). In fact I probably cannot think of any two solar system bodies above that size that I would have even the slightest difficulties recognizing in global images (unless the resolution were really low). Somehow they each have their own 'personality'. Years ago people expected lots of 'Rheas' out there but instead you've got things like Enceladus, Iapetus, Hyperion and Dione which are totally different from each other (and Titan in a class of its own). The same is true at Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. Every solar system object seems to be interesting in some way.
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- alan   June 12 2007 Icy Moons (rev 46)   Jun 6 2007, 07:35 AM
- - jasedm   I think it's a recent decision to attempt to p...   Jun 7 2007, 07:01 PM
- - volcanopele   Sorry, no dice AFAIK for Prometheus. The June 12 ...   Jun 7 2007, 07:13 PM
- - jasedm   Right decision I think to go for Atlas on this orb...   Jun 7 2007, 08:09 PM
- - Decepticon   Some distant looks at Mimas. http://saturn1.jpl.na...   Jun 13 2007, 09:19 AM
- - ugordan   Atlas images are in. It doesn't look very sauc...   Jun 13 2007, 09:36 AM
- - MarcF   Amazing !! The surface is so smooth. Only ...   Jun 13 2007, 10:07 AM
|- - ngunn   QUOTE (MarcF @ Jun 13 2007, 11:07 AM) And...   Jun 13 2007, 10:46 AM
|- - pat   QUOTE (ngunn @ Jun 13 2007, 11:46 AM) Pre...   Jun 13 2007, 12:26 PM
- - pat   QUOTE (alan @ Jun 6 2007, 08:35 AM) ...A ...   Jun 13 2007, 12:16 PM
- - volcanopele   We are looking down on the southern hemisphere of ...   Jun 13 2007, 03:06 PM
|- - pat   QUOTE (volcanopele @ Jun 13 2007, 04:06 P...   Jun 13 2007, 03:33 PM
- - MarcF   OK, thanks. Now I see the perspective. We can imag...   Jun 13 2007, 03:37 PM
- - Ian R   Here's a version of the picture created from s...   Jun 13 2007, 04:09 PM
- - elakdawalla   Why is there so much noise in the images -- is it ...   Jun 13 2007, 04:41 PM
|- - Littlebit   QUOTE (elakdawalla @ Jun 13 2007, 10:41 A...   Jun 13 2007, 07:48 PM
- - jasedm   Fascinating little moon - looks like it's been...   Jun 13 2007, 06:02 PM
- - volcanopele   The distance is around 42,000 km.   Jun 13 2007, 06:06 PM
- - dilo   Thanks Ian for the beautiful Atlas staked image. I...   Jun 13 2007, 08:32 PM
- - Exploitcorporations   Very nice Ian! Here's an enlarged version...   Jun 13 2007, 09:45 PM
- - belleraphon1   Yes, thanks Ian... This is just stunning!...   Jun 13 2007, 10:14 PM
|- - Stu   QUOTE (belleraphon1 @ Jun 13 2007, 11:14 ...   Jun 13 2007, 10:48 PM
|- - nprev   QUOTE (Stu @ Jun 13 2007, 03:48 PM) Hmmm....   Jun 14 2007, 04:12 AM
|- - Exploitcorporations   QUOTE (nprev @ Jun 13 2007, 09:12 PM) You...   Jun 14 2007, 07:50 AM
|- - belleraphon1   QUOTE (nprev @ Jun 14 2007, 12:12 AM) Got...   Jun 14 2007, 11:42 AM
- - elakdawalla   My own versions of the two best Atlas images to da...   Jun 13 2007, 11:35 PM
|- - lyford   QUOTE (elakdawalla @ Jun 13 2007, 04:35 P...   Jun 14 2007, 12:08 AM
- - belleraphon1   "Golluming" I like that. I am sure a wh...   Jun 13 2007, 11:36 PM
- - belleraphon1   Emily... I like the color.... definitely adds to...   Jun 13 2007, 11:44 PM
- - belleraphon1   Emily... just looked at your blog and got the answ...   Jun 13 2007, 11:47 PM
- - elakdawalla   In fact I am a Good Eats fan -- didn't realize...   Jun 14 2007, 12:21 AM
|- - AlexBlackwell   QUOTE (elakdawalla @ Jun 13 2007, 02:21 P...   Jun 14 2007, 12:26 AM
- - dvandorn   I dunno -- it seems to me that to move across the ...   Jun 14 2007, 07:15 AM
- - jasedm   I reckon that Pan and Daphnis may look pretty simi...   Jun 14 2007, 06:14 PM
|- - Gsnorgathon   QUOTE (jasedm @ Jun 14 2007, 06:14 PM) .....   Jun 15 2007, 03:57 AM
- - volcanopele   Actually, Pan is lemon-shaped.   Jun 14 2007, 06:51 PM
|- - AlexBlackwell   QUOTE (volcanopele @ Jun 14 2007, 08:51 A...   Jun 14 2007, 06:53 PM
|- - Gsnorgathon   QUOTE (AlexBlackwell @ Jun 14 2007, 06:53...   Jun 15 2007, 04:00 AM
- - Stu   Just wondering... does anybody else live in a cons...   Jun 14 2007, 08:00 PM
|- - Bjorn Jonsson   QUOTE (Stu @ Jun 14 2007, 08:00 PM) Just ...   Jun 15 2007, 12:06 PM
|- - The Messenger   QUOTE (Stu @ Jun 14 2007, 02:00 PM) Just ...   Jun 24 2007, 09:57 PM
- - climber   Yes Stu, we must admit that Nature has much more i...   Jun 14 2007, 09:08 PM
- - belleraphon1   Stu... I have been seeing the marvelous and bizz...   Jun 14 2007, 10:22 PM
- - dvandorn   Yes, Stu. I do. Reminds me of a song lyric from ...   Jun 15 2007, 03:27 AM
- - lyford   OK... this is getting too weird - Alton Brown, Coh...   Jun 15 2007, 04:00 AM
|- - ngunn   QUOTE (lyford @ Jun 15 2007, 05:00 AM) ne...   Jun 15 2007, 08:58 AM
- - Stu   ON ATLAS’ SHOULDERS… To their visor-shielded eyes...   Jun 15 2007, 07:26 AM
- - ngunn   QUOTE (Stu @ Jun 14 2007, 09:00 PM) Unbel...   Jun 15 2007, 01:28 PM
- - Phil Stooke   I did a bit of cleaning up and stacking of the Atl...   Jun 24 2007, 01:37 AM
- - elakdawalla   I looked at these in crossed-eye stereo, and I can...   Jun 24 2007, 01:56 AM
- - Phil Stooke   If there is anything in it, I think it has to be t...   Jun 24 2007, 07:29 PM
|- - tedstryk   What a strange moon!   Jun 24 2007, 08:53 PM
- - David   I'm not sure if I got this right, but I gather...   Jun 24 2007, 09:28 PM
- - Phil Stooke   David, I think you are combining things which have...   Jun 24 2007, 11:58 PM
- - tasp   Gee, if they are looking for things to do during t...   Jul 30 2007, 01:18 PM
- - tasp   Just curious musing here: Would an impact into th...   Aug 1 2007, 03:12 AM


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