MEX VMC - Back on, and online! |
MEX VMC - Back on, and online! |
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#1
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Founder ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Chairman Posts: 14432 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 ![]() |
I heard about this 24 hours ago, and couldn't believe it - this is EXACTLY what has been missing from ESA. MASSIVE kudos to the ESOC MEX flight ops team for doing it
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/VMC/index.html The last time I wrote a post and hit 'submit' at UMSF with a smile this big on my face, was when Oppy successfully got out of Purgatory. |
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#2
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![]() Junior Member ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 37 Joined: 27-August 08 From: Darmstadt, Germany Member No.: 4320 ![]() |
Just to put my two cents in, you're right that the "object" fades a lot towards the end of the observation. It could well be that we're seeing something like the face on Mars - just a combination of light and shadow that looks like something we want to see. Nonetheless there aren't any major features I can see on the Mars map that would give rise to such a large flare/shadow. In ustrax's plot the crater identified is (I believe from looking at the Celestia file) Copernicus.
Using Ian Musgrave's Registax techniques he describes here http://astroblogger.blogspot.com/2008/08/w...-over-mars.html, combined with ugordon's colour processing script, I wonder if it's possible to clean up the image and see if we can place it more precisely on a map of Mars. Would be great to see what more it could teach us! P.S. Top theories so far include trick of the light, cloud or (a long shot, but a cool one) an impact event plume... -------------------- |
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#3
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![]() Special Cookie ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 2168 Joined: 6-April 05 From: Sintra | Portugal Member No.: 228 ![]() |
dear Ormstont, I am sorry to be a bit limited in terms of software for the moment but if that carter is indeed Copernicus then, looking at Google Mars, I see a bright patch to the right of the crater (marked) that could be the "culprit"...assuming that I am getting the right orientation and scale...
![]() -------------------- "Ride, boldly ride," The shade replied, "If you seek for Eldorado!"
Edgar Alan Poe |
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#4
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![]() Senior Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 3648 Joined: 1-October 05 From: Croatia Member No.: 523 ![]() |
It definitely appears to be atmospheric as the shadow moves below it (click to enlarge):
![]() It seems to have dissipated at the end. Based on the rough 100 km size estimate I get a height in excess of 100 km (around 110 km, but the uncertainty is rather large) if my back-of-the-envelope calculation is right using this 3x magnified bit: ![]() If it's an ordinary cloud, what would make it so circular at that altitude and would it dissipate quickly in sunlight? If it's an impact plume, wouldn't we expect a darker color and much lower and more persistent plume? -------------------- |
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#5
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![]() Senior Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Moderator Posts: 2785 Joined: 10-November 06 From: Pasadena, CA Member No.: 1345 ![]() |
Nice animation, Gordan!
As you've shown, the shadow seems much longer in the earliest images, just what you'd expect as the sun peeped up over the horizon. -Mike -------------------- Some higher resolution images available at my photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31678681@N07/
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