Dawn approaches Ceres, From opnav images to first orbit Options

[Mithridates]

I'm finding it remarkably difficult to wait for the higher-res images obtained today - they should be very interesting.

That's for sure. These are the first ones that will propel us from Hubbly guesswork into a completely new era of what we know about Ceres.

It's also the most interesting entirely new object of its size and significance since what...Neptune maybe?

[dvandorn]

Will the new opnav images be looking at the same hemisphere as the last set? In other words, will we be seeing the white spot at greater resolution, or the other side?

Don't get me wrong, I don't care which side we get to see. I'm happy to see any of Ceres at ever-increasing resolutions. This will help complete my mind's-eye-view of our solar system, and I can hardly wait.

Of course, the remainder of what I need for that wonderful full visualization of our solar system has to wait until July, at the earliest. So, no matter what, there is always more time to wait... but wonders at the end of the rainbow.

-the other Doug

[DrShank]

It will be the same side. i think a more complete rotation is the one planned Feb 12 or so. when we should have ~115 pixels on the disk. can't wait . . . by then the new leaves will start here in houston and spring will be in the air . . .

[volcanopele]

I've updated my movies of the pre-orbit observations of Ceres using Celestia (posted above). I had been using an older rotation model for Ceres and had been meaning to fix it, but I could never get the standard PCK file to work for Ceres. I ended up having to edit a PCK NAIF kernel file used for Saturn's moons, and basically broke Pallene, which did work before, in my installation in order to get Ceres to work. I also noticed that there is a difference in the prime meridian used by the IAU and the Dawn team/every other published map. I ended up just going with the Dawn team's meridian, so much easier that way (so I don't have to worry about correcting every map by 170 degrees.

For the curious, here's a zoomed in view of OPNAV1:

[alphasam]

http://tucson.com/news/blogs/scientific-be...0cd46de206.html

Umm, is that what I think it is...?

[Hungry4info]

If what you think it is involves the reflection of foreground ceiling lights, yes.

[Explorer1]

Just a little too small to read the date on the corner of the screen; would tell us whether that's from last week or this one...

[alphasam]

Yes, ceiling light reflection, the new "OSIRIS munging".


Pretty sure it's the new ones.

Five members of the science team for NASA’s Dawn mission to Ceres were excited Monday to view the clearest images ever taken of the dwarf planet.

[K-P]

It's also the most interesting entirely new object of its size and significance since what...Neptune maybe?

Well, I would put it on par with Cassini's (and Huygens') coverage of Titan's surface and maybe even Messenger's global view of Mercury, but yes, most interesting "almost totally" uncovered new object.

I would say that even more interesting than the upcoming Pluto/Charon exploration. (sorry if I hurt someone's feelings... )

So, what's left after this year? Pallas, of course, and then Eris, Sedna... And yes, the (sub)surface of Europa!

Great era of exploration we are living in.

[Decepticon]

Some details can be seen in those images.


I lowered contrast a bit.

Attached thumbnail(s)

 

[Mithridates]

Well, I would put it on par with Cassini's (and Huygens') coverage of Titan's surface and maybe even Messenger's global view of Mercury, but yes, most interesting "almost totally" uncovered new object.

I would say that even more interesting than the upcoming Pluto/Charon exploration. (sorry if I hurt someone's feelings... )

So, what's left after this year? Pallas, of course, and then Eris, Sedna... And yes, the (sub)surface of Europa!

Great era of exploration we are living in.

Plus 24 Themis! Kind of like a smaller Ceres (200 km diameter), covered in ice, and less than a degree off of our orbital plane. Should make at least a flyby en route to somewhere else a fairly easy thing to accomplish if it isn't deemed worthy of a mission of its own.

[Habukaz]

It's also the most interesting entirely new object of its size and significance since what...Neptune maybe?

I was actually thinking the exact same thing the other day. I've since concluded that it's a bit hard to compare because of at least one icy moon of Saturn who is of a much larger size, namely Titan. The best pictures we had of its surface were made by Hubble due to Titan's opaque atmosphere, and they were of rather poor quality - basically showing Xanadu and not much else. Before Cassini-Huygens got close, it was still believed that a large fraction of Titan's surface could be covered by methane oceans, IIRC.

Still, Titan was very far from being the the sole mission target for Cassini, and it's also "just" a moon - still living with its parent.

http://tucson.com/news/blogs/scientific-be...0cd46de206.html

Umm, is that what I think it is...?

Gah, that's kind of a cruel thing to do. They are ruining a part of the element of surprise while still not giving us something much better than what we had last week.


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While we wait for the full details of the latest images, here's a handy list for those who haven't seen it already (from here):

• Feb 4, 2015 | OpNav #3 | 148,000 km | 68 pixels | 2.2x Hubble resolution
• Feb 12, 2015 | Rotation Characterization #1 | 84,000 km | 116 pixels | 3.7x Hubble resolution
• Feb 20, 2015 | Rotation Characterization #2 | 48,000 km | 226 pixels | 7x Hubble resolution
• Feb 23, 2015 | Closest Approach | | Begin high-phase Approach
• Feb 25, 2015 | OpNav #4 | 39,000 km | 264 pixels | 8x Hubble resolution
• Mar 2, 2015 | OpNav #5 | 50,000 km | 205 pixels | 6.5x Hubble resolution
• Mar 6, 2015 | Capture| | Capture into orbit
• Apr 10, 2015 | OpNav #6 | 33,000 km | 300 pixels | 9.5x Hubble resolution
• Apr 15, 2015 | OpNav #7 | 21,000 km | 470 pixels | 15x Hubble resolution
• Apr 23, 2015 | Rotation Characterization #3 | 13,000 km | 20x Hubble resolution

[DrShank]

-----

While we wait for the full details of the latest images, here's a handy list for those who haven't seen it already (from here):

• Feb 4, 2015 | OpNav #3 | 148,000 km | 68 pixels | 2.2x Hubble resolution
• Feb 12, 2015 | Rotation Characterization #1 | 84,000 km | 116 pixels | 3.7x Hubble resolution
• Feb 20, 2015 | Rotation Characterization #2 | 48,000 km | 226 pixels | 7x Hubble resolution
• Feb 23, 2015 | Closest Approach | | Begin high-phase Approach
• Feb 25, 2015 | OpNav #4 | 39,000 km | 264 pixels | 8x Hubble resolution
• Mar 2, 2015 | OpNav #5 | 50,000 km | 205 pixels | 6.5x Hubble resolution
• Mar 6, 2015 | Capture| | Capture into orbit
• Apr 10, 2015 | OpNav #6 | 33,000 km | 300 pixels | 9.5x Hubble resolution
• Apr 15, 2015 | OpNav #7 | 21,000 km | 470 pixels | 15x Hubble resolution
• Apr 23, 2015 | Rotation Characterization #3 | 13,000 km | 20x Hubble resolution

thanks for posting this. it is useful to note that we get down to about 8x-HST end-of-Feb. then for another month we do a little orbital phasing dance with Ceres to get into the right place to enter mapping orbit (due to the safing event late last year). that means of course we won't get any better resolution again until April. That will give us all of March to chew on 250-pixels of Ceres . . .

[volcanopele]

New images are now available:

http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/feature_stories/D...DwarfPlanet.asp

[Habukaz]

The latest images have been posted.

http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/feature_stories/D...DwarfPlanet.asp

The bright(er) spot is still a mystery, I guess, and some crater candidates look more like craters than ever before.

We are already seeing areas and details on Ceres popping out that had not been seen before. For instance, there are several dark features in the southern hemisphere that might be craters within a region that is darker overall," said Carol Raymond, deputy principal investigator of the Dawn mission at JPL.

EDIT: Actually...when looking at my monitor from a distance while it was showing this animation, I noticed that there are what looks like white patches to the right of the bright spot, in the same hemisphere.