MSL - Astronomical Observations, Phobos/Deimos, planetary/celestial observations and more Options

[elakdawalla]

This is the thread for comet Siding Spring observations.

[Gerald]

A sol 777 M-100 nighttime shot with star trails and a potentially extended (and fuzzy?!) object track center right?

http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/ima...80E01_DXXX.html

Airbag

Without telemetry yet, I'd think, this should be Vega with Epsilon Lyrae (aka Double Double) as double streak below the bright streak. Here a processed version to enhance stars:

Direct link raw image, direct link processed.

Edit: No, the double streak is a processing artifact. We'll need to wait for telemetry to identify the star.

[Airbag]

I see one nearly-horizontal star trail at centre right, the rest looks like noise.

Ah yes, that is of course a much better explanation...oops.

Airbag

[fredk]

I'd think this should be Vega with Epsilon Lyrae (aka Double Double) as double streak below the bright streak.

The separation of epsilon is closer to along the line to Vega, so this isn't epsilon.

Did you use this image: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/ms...982E01_DXXX.jpg
for noise subtraction? That image has a star trail right at the position of the feature you ID'd as epsilon, so subtraction followed by some edge detection/processing could explain your feature.

[Gerald]

You're right, just noticed it, after checking things once again.

Edit: The bright background is probably the cause for artifacts from cleaning, which are then enhanced by the post-processing. It's maybe better to apply a hipass filter in these cases before cleaning.

[jmknapp]

We'll need to wait for telemetry to identify the star.

The telemetry is in now. Looks like it was among some MR shots to cover the same area as the CC Vega shots.

[Gerald]

So the bright streak seems to be indeed Vega, but not for the reason I suspected in the above post.

[Gerald]

After accurate processing Epsilon Lyrae (both components of about mag. 5) seems to be just discernible near the noise level in the later Sol 777 MR image (6:58 p.m. LMST):

At 6:35 p.m. LMST the background has been too bright to get a discernible signal.

[vikingmars]

Some very good images of Phobos were taken Sol 784 with some details visible on its night side, thanks to the "Marshine"...
Here is the pixel ovelap done with the 2 best images (links here below) :
- http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/ms...208E01_DXXX.jpg
- http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/ms...208C00_DXXX.jpg
Stickney Crater is the brightly illuminated oval seen at 7:00 o'clock (bottom left side of the satellite).
Enjoy



==> P.S.1 : Please Phil, as our great cartographer expert, could you be so kind to name the other features visible on it ?

==> P.S.2 : Any idea if there are some plans to have Phobos & Deimos being imaged by ChemCam ? Such images would be truly spectacular !

[Phil Stooke]

OK... but you're not going to like it! You were mistaken about the location of Stickney:



Phil

[Gerald]

==> P.S.2 : Any idea if there are some plans to have Phobos & Deimos being imaged by ChemCam ? Such images would be truly spectacular !

It's risky, sometimes, because of the Sun.

[vikingmars]

OK... but you're not going to like it! You were mistaken about the location of Stickney:
Phil

Thanks Phil !!! You are right : I should have rotated it 90°. Now, I feel at home ! Thanks so much !

[vikingmars]

It's risky, sometimes, because of the Sun.

Thanks a lot Gerald for the explanation.
And what about later in the mission ?

[Gerald]

If they can add some more science value, like a passive absorption spectrogram of the lower atmosphere or of ice clouds, in collaboration with SAM, or with MAVEN exploring the upper atmosphere, it might move a little higher on the priority list of proposals.
The LIBS spectrometers have been designed for emission spectroscopy. So I can't fully assess, how well this would work, and to which degree the expected science return can compete with other proposals requiring the same ressources.

[fredk]

Very recognizable field: the Pleides and Hyades via ML:

This is the average of the stretched differences of the two frames.

Also, a nice large sunspot group:


Edit: Oops, sorry, I forgot about the MSL - Astronomical Observations thread. ADMIN EDIT: Moved it for you