Rev 148 - Apr 29-May 30, 2011 - Titan T76 |
Rev 148 - Apr 29-May 30, 2011 - Titan T76 |
May 6 2011, 03:12 AM
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#1
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Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 2785 Joined: 10-November 06 From: Pasadena, CA Member No.: 1345 |
RGB composite of May 3, 2011 WAC images. Tweaked to get more sharpness (see flickr page for processing details).
-------------------- Some higher resolution images available at my photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31678681@N07/
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May 31 2011, 11:57 AM
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#2
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 94 Joined: 15-October 09 Member No.: 4979 |
For those who aren't familiar with the conventions, amateur astronomers often display telescopic planetary images with south at the top, to approximate the view through the eyepiece of many telescopes (for observers in the Earth's northern hemisphere). Professional astronomers, and planetary scientists (professional and amateur) working with spacecraft images, usually put north at the top unless there's a good reason not to do so. Personally, I'd like to see the amateur astronomers change their convention, in this digital age, so we can all look at the solar system the same way... John It's not a big deal, really. After all, there is no "up" in space... |
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May 31 2011, 01:24 PM
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#3
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 87 Joined: 9-November 07 Member No.: 3958 |
It's not a big deal, really. After all, there is no "up" in space... Most folks here may not be old enough to recall that there were once two conventions for east and west on the Moon's surface - the astronomical convention corresponded to which limb faced which horizon (matching celestial east and west). That yielded to the astronautical convention, matching the terrestrial sense, about the time it appeared people might be going there and such agencies as the USAF got into the lunar cartography business. I suspect this switch saved more confusion that we can easily imagine. The switch was institutionalized by the IAU in 1961. A quick Google check shows that, for example the 1953 Questar map reproduced on the telescope barrel labels the western limb on the side of Mare Crisium. |
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May 31 2011, 07:57 PM
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#4
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Member Group: Members Posts: 699 Joined: 3-December 04 From: Boulder, Colorado, USA Member No.: 117 |
And of course Mare Orientale is in the middle of the moon's western hemisphere...
Meanwhile, there are still two conflicting definitions of "North" on Pluto and other retrograde-spinning worlds, and for planetary satellites, scientists use west longitudes while engineers sometimes use east longitudes, so all is not yet harmonious. John |
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