Cassini "Kodak Moments" Options

[Guest_AlexBlackwell_*]

An excerpt from Emily Lakdawalla's blog entry today ("Pretty Cassini pictures from near the ring plane"):

"When the Cassini team plans observations done with any of the instruments, there's usually a lettered code assigned to the observation that gives a brief description of the purpose of the observation....my favorite one of those codes has to be 'KODAKMMT,' which is clearly short for 'Kodak Moment' -- in other words, the purpose of the observation is to take a photo for no other particular reason than it is going to be pretty. Cassini has a lot of science goals to accomplish at Saturn but I am very happy that they are taking just a few data bits to occasionally snap pictures, like the Tethys and Saturn one above, that are just plain pretty!"

I'll only add that Cassini has several "Kodak Moments" planned for the tour. In fact, as Cassini Mission Planning defines them: "These images are *candidate* opportunities for aesthetically pleasing images to be taken. Navigation may consider replacing one OPNAV with one of these images, but only if navigation margin and workforce allow. It is expected that on average, about one image per sequence may be implemented, totaling a few dozen over the tour."

The one planned for the S17 sequence is OK, I guess. It's a nearly edge-on shot of the rings with Mimas, Calypso, and Pan in the frame. S18 has two, one of which has Titan nearly occultating Enceladus. At any rate, expect some dazzling shots of the rings later in the tour, when Cassini is in a high inclination orbit.

[tasp]

How about that. I thought the 'pretty' multiple moons all in one picture were absolutely crucial for precisely measuring the moons positions and Cassini's location amongst them.

Thanx for the deeper insight into the mission planners goals and motivations.

I like those shots regardless of the motivation for taking them.

[elakdawalla]

How about that.  I thought the 'pretty' multiple moons all in one picture were absolutely crucial for precisely measuring the moons positions and Cassini's location amongst them.

Thanx for the deeper insight into the mission planners goals and motivations.

I like those shots regardless of the motivation for taking them.

Most of the multiple-moon shots are indeed for optical navigation, as you say; but op nav images are usually just taken through the clear filter, and usually are one-off shots. To do a "kodak moment" they typically do RED-GRN-BL1 which allows them to create an approximate true color version. Judging from what I've seen on the raw site those RED and BL1 filters are pretty much only used either when they're specifically composing a pretty picture for public consumption or when they're shooting a full set using all filters for spectrophotometry. GRN gets used all the time though.

--Emily

[djellison]

The same as MER

You can tell, if they do something with just L456, it's a Kodak Moment. But L257 is normal

Doug

[JRehling]

The same as MER

You can tell, if they do something with just L456, it's a Kodak Moment. But L257 is normal

Doug

It seems to be a bandwidth concern, with just CLR or Green as the default, L257 to get some spectral information (also, varying polarization is a rarer alternative), with the rare full-filter set.

As far as Photojournal-level releases, Cassini has led to a surprising proliferation of BW pictures that seem like a throwback to Mariner after, eg, Viking + Voyager were so heavily color-based in public releases. Well, this is a mission-by-mission issue. But as far as PR goes, they ought to stick with the color releases. It would be nice if one of the occultation event "movies" were done in RGB.

[Guest_Sunspot_*]

It would be nice if one of the occultation event "movies" were done in RGB.

The Moons aren't that colourful though - except Titan. A shot of Titan passing in front of Saturn would be nice though.

[elakdawalla]

The Moons aren't that colourful though - except Titan.  A shot of Titan passing in front of Saturn would be nice though.

Yeah, it's true, color would be wasted on those movies. And anyway the movies already take a lot of bandwidth because of the multiple frames -- it's hard to justify tripling the bandwidth in order to get color.

I think that the proliferation of BW on Cassini releases may ironically have to do with just how many filters Cassini's cameras have. A great many of them are devoted to methane bands and continuum bands in the infrared and they use those a lot. Combining several of those into color images makes really cool psychadelic pictures of Saturn showing all kinds of incredible detail in the cloud structure but they look "fake" because of all the colors. Black and white views look more "real."

Perhaps we need more people here to use some artistic license to make more colorful Cassini pictures

--Emily

[pat]

[quote=elakdawalla,Dec 10 2005, 05:08 PM]
Yeah, it's true, color would be wasted on those movies. And anyway the movies already take a lot of bandwidth because of the multiple frames -- it's hard to justify tripling the bandwidth in order to get color.


Its a combination of allocated datavolume and the typical speed of the mutual events. The transits themselves usually don't last longer than a couple of minutes, some only 20-30 seconds or so. With a frame time of 33 seconds it takes 99 seconds to actually take a RED-GRN-BL1 triplet. With the scientific justification for the observations being orbit determination of the satellites its hard to justify three filter sets just to produce colour images especially if you only have enough allocated datavolume to take 10 images. Then there is the fact that the events are so rapid that the satellites are in different relative positions in every single image so you can't just combine a RED-GRN-BL1 set to make a single colour image. You have to 'fake' things and 'cut out' the satellites from the different filters to combine them.

Bandwidth per se usually isn't the issue its nearly always the absolute allocated datavolume for an observation thats the limiting factor.

And one final tid bit about the KODAK MOMENT images. These observations are planned by Mission Planning at JPL and executed by the NAV team at JPL and specifically CANNOT be used for science. All science images are planned and executed by the ISS team, the Mission Planners at JPL have no input to this process and no data rights, until the archived images are released to the general public by the PDS 9-12 months after they are taken. Only members of the ISS team can do science with all images taken by the ISS cameras before this happens (that includes all OPNAV and KODAK MOMENT images).

[dilo]

This low phase-anghle view of Janus+rings+Titan completeley taken away my breath, I'm still looking for it!
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/imag...9/N00055798.jpg

Edit: Do someone wants to make a good movie with the entire sequence?

[um3k]

This low phase-anghle view of Janus+rings+Titan completeley taken away my breath, I'm still looking for it!
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/imag...9/N00055798.jpg

Edit: Do someone wants to make a good movie with the entire sequence?

Here are some movies: http://um3k.justinphillips.googlepages.com...ings-titanevent
Let me know if you need gif versions.

[mcaplinger]

Have they ever taken a large color mosaic of all of Saturn and the rings?

[ugordan]

Have they ever taken a large color mosaic of all of Saturn and the rings?

The Greatest Saturn Portrait... Yet

[Bjorn Jonsson]

Have they ever taken a large color mosaic of all of Saturn and the rings?

Yes, on October 6, 2004. See coiss_2007\data\1475761489_1475767501

[Guest_AlexBlackwell_*]

The Greatest Saturn Portrait... Yet

There are a few Kodak Moments for "full portraits" towards the end of the primary tour, especially in 2008 during S39 and S40, when Cassini will be in a highly inclined orbit and looking "down" on the system during portions of its orbit.

[dilo]

Here are some movies: http://um3k.justinphillips.googlepages.com...ings-titanevent
Let me know if you need gif versions.

Very nice animations, um3K... I would call it a relativistic work!

Here are some movies: http://um3k.justinphillips.googlepages.com...ings-titanevent
Let me know if you need gif versions.

Very nice animations, um3K... I would call it a relativistic work!
thanks