MESSENGER science results |
  |
MESSENGER science results |
 Sep 28 2011, 05:14 AM
Post
#1
|
|
 Senior Member  Group: Members Posts: 1147 Joined: 3-August 06 From: 43° 35' 53" N 1° 26' 35" E Member No.: 1004  |
to be announced Thursday and to be published in Science Friday.
MESSENGER Reveals New Details of Planet Mercury this looks like a geeky cool Thursday (Thursday evening here in Europe): we have a WISE NEO update at 17 UTC and this MESSENGER teleconf at 18 UTC! -------------------- I'm one of the most durable and fervent advocates of space exploration, but my take is that we could do it robotically at far less cost and far greater quantity and quality of results.
James Van Allen |
 |
 
|
|
Sep 29 2011, 06:32 PM
Post
#2
|
|
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1101 Joined: 14-October 05 From: Seattle Member No.: 530 |
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/telecon7_multi.html
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=184 The Blewitt images are mind-blewing. |
|
|
|
|
Sep 29 2011, 06:52 PM
Post
#3
|
|
 Member Group: Members Posts: 618 Joined: 13-February 10 From: Vancouver, British Columbia Member No.: 5221 |
The view from the surface must be like that as well; if there's ever a landing site candidate someday, that's the place! (Along with the poles).
-------------------- To a body of infinite size there can be ascribed neither centre nor boundary... Thus the Earth no more than any other world is at the centre. -Giordano Bruno, 1584.
|
|
|
|
|
Sep 29 2011, 07:46 PM
Post
#4
|
|
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 4522 Joined: 5-April 05 From: Canada Member No.: 227 |
I told you about those pits! - and check out the LRO thread where I highlight similar pits on the Moon. But on the Moon there are VERY few and they are quite old. But they still exist. On Mercury, zillions of them and could still be forming today.
Phil -------------------- ... because the Solar System ain't gonna map itself.
|
|
|
|
|
Sep 29 2011, 07:52 PM
Post
#5
|
|
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1147 Joined: 3-August 06 From: 43° 35' 53" N 1° 26' 35" E Member No.: 1004 |
for lucky subscribers, Science papers are here
http://www.sciencemag.org/site/feature/dat...pics/messenger/ -------------------- I'm one of the most durable and fervent advocates of space exploration, but my take is that we could do it robotically at far less cost and far greater quantity and quality of results.
James Van Allen |
|
|
|
|
Sep 29 2011, 09:32 PM
Post
#6
|
|
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 4522 Joined: 5-April 05 From: Canada Member No.: 227 |
A few further thoughts on the pits for clarification. There are two distinct types, the large deep pits such as those I illustrated near a crater in Caloris, with 'false color orange' surroundings (and as shown by Jim Head in the new release), and much smaller shallow 'hollows' making up the bright patches on some crater floors, illustrated by Blewitt in the new release. Both kinds are seen in Tyagaraja crater. The smaller ones are more like the small lunar pits I've been showing in LROC images. The larger ones might be more like the big pyroclastic center south of Orientale on the Moon, surrounded by a dark halo. In both cases, they are found on the Moon, but few and old, and on Mercury where they are plentifull and probably a lot younger.
Phil -------------------- ... because the Solar System ain't gonna map itself.
|
|
|
|
|
Sep 29 2011, 10:16 PM
Post
#7
|
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 138 Joined: 1-October 06 Member No.: 1206 |
Wow!
 Not only great presentations but a reminder that Messenger truly is a quiet achiever. Many of those depressions have an 'Ina caldera' look about them. Vulcanism on Mercury certainly is more interesting than we might have expected... P |
|
|
|
|
Sep 30 2011, 12:21 AM
Post
#8
|
|
 Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 6482 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
Nothing useful to say, but I must add:
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Absolutely remarkable. -------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
|
|
|
|
|
Sep 30 2011, 11:20 AM
Post
#9
|
|
|
Newbie Group: Members Posts: 15 Joined: 30-March 08 Member No.: 4078 |
Wow. Mercury really is more interesting than I expected.
QUOTE (antipode @ Sep 30 2011, 11:16 AM)  Vulcanism on Mercury certainly is more interesting than we might have expected... Bad pun? 
|
|
|
|
|
Sep 30 2011, 12:12 PM
Post
#10
|
|
 Member Group: Members Posts: 713 Joined: 29-December 05 From: NE Oh, USA Member No.: 627 |
A volatile rich Mercury..... just WOW!
Craig |
|
|
|
|
Sep 30 2011, 03:54 PM
Post
#11
|
|
 Member Group: Members Posts: 242 Joined: 23-January 05 From: Seattle, WA Member No.: 156 |
Of course, at Mercury's surface temps, what counts as volatile is a bit different than what most of us usually think of as volatile...
|
|
|
|
|
Oct 2 2011, 11:46 PM
Post
#12
|
|
|
Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 72 Joined: 14-June 05 From: Cambridge, MA Member No.: 411 |
How does finding all these volatiles on the surface of Mercury square with the "Late Heavy Bombardment" hypothesis? It would seem that, if there was such an event and it included Mercury, these volatiles on its surface would have been destroyed. Is LHB in trouble?
- John Sheff Cambridge, MA |
|
|
|
|
Oct 3 2011, 12:22 AM
Post
#13
|
|
|
Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 6482 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
Gsnorgathon had an insightful comment about that; check above.
I don't think the LHB is in trouble. One thing to remember about Mercury is that as the innermost planet it probably gets mo' betta impacts than everything else but Jupiter & the Sun over time, and therefore a greater influx rate of elements/minerals. Just my opinion, of course. However, Messenger is definitely proving to be a fascinating mission! -------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
|
|
|
|
|
Oct 4 2011, 12:07 AM
Post
#14
|
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 713 Joined: 29-December 05 From: NE Oh, USA Member No.: 627 |
Thanks Gsnorgathon... Volatiles are relative. My remark earlier should have been qualified. I was not thinking what we Earthlings commonly think of as volatites - H2O, CO2, NH3, etc. I grew up with text books that offered a silicate, iron model of Mercury that left little room for higher temperature volaties such as K and S. The sulfur content is 10 x the Earth. That is significant. Again I say WOW. There will be a joint ESO-DPS MESSENGER breifing Wednesday at 12:15 CSET. Going to try and catch it .... not sure if anything new since last week but what the heck. Wednesday 05 October – Mercury and MESSENGER Mission Briefing Mercury after 6 months of MESSENGER orbital observations (Sean Solomon), Geometry of Mercury's magnetic field and implications for Mercury's dynamo and magnetosphere–surface interactions (Brian Anderson), The dynamics of Mercury's exosphere (Bill McClintock), Mercury's geological and surface compositional evolution (Brett Denevi), Variations in surface reflectance spectra (Noam Izenberg), BepiColombo Current Status (Johannes Benkhoff). Webcast link: http://meetings.copernicus.org/epsc-dps201.../wednesday.html Craig |
|
|
|
|
Oct 5 2011, 05:33 PM
Post
#15
|
|
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1101 Joined: 14-October 05 From: Seattle Member No.: 530 |
Presentations and release available here:
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/presscon10.html Emily's summary from the conference here: http://planetary.org/blog/article/00003211/ |
|
|
|
|
|
Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 26th May 2013 - 12:14 AM |
|
RULES AND GUIDELINES Please read the Forum Rules and Guidelines before posting. IMAGE COPYRIGHT |
OPINIONS AND MODERATION Opinions expressed on UnmannedSpaceflight.com are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of UnmannedSpaceflight.com or The Planetary Society. The all-volunteer UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderation team is wholly independent of The Planetary Society. The Planetary Society has no influence over decisions made by the UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderators. |
SUPPORT THE FORUM Unmannedspaceflight.com is a project of the Planetary Society and is funded by donations from visitors and members. Help keep this forum up and running by contributing here. |
|
