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Full Version: Distant Vistas 2 - The view from Cape Tribulation
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ngunn
The latest pancams show some interesting bumps on the far horizon as well as long 'swells' on the plain that might respond well to 'phil-o-vision'. Time for the 'Distant Vistas' team to resume work? I'm not going to attempt the first identifications as I have little idea what azimuths we're looking at. Also I don't know what visibility to expect with the current dust levels.
Phil Stooke
By jingo - you're right... here's a stretched look at the western horizon. IDs will have to wait a bit.

Phil

Click to view attachment
vikingmars
QUOTE (Phil Stooke @ Nov 17 2014, 11:00 PM) *
By jingo - you're right... here's a stretched look at the western horizon. IDs will have to wait a bit. Phil

Thanks Phil and Ngunn : maybe we will be able to see also the distant rim of Bopolu crater on the western horizon when we reach the summit... (see Bopolu Crater herebelow : a Sol 2195 image) smile.gif
Click to view attachment
jamescanvin
Well I think it's likely that the central hazy feature is Bopolu.

Dusting off my 'inverse polar' analysis with my id's of a couple of more nearby craters.

Click to view attachment
Phil Stooke
Good! And in addition, in the right foreground is a broad shallow depression visible in both pan and map.

Phil

vikingmars
QUOTE (Ant103 @ Nov 19 2014, 12:25 PM) *
Hi smile.gif I don't know if it's a come back, but I feel the envy to do some stitchings these days (maybe it's because the summit is near). So, Sol 3846 Navcam panoramic :

Thanks a lot, Damia ! How nice ! smile.gif

...and, Phil, jamescanvin and ngunn : -in theory- we would be able to discern from the very summit of Cape Tribulation a faint line lying on the north-western horizon showing Victoria Crater !
Herebelow as a reminder, Cape Tribulation as seen from the rim of Victoria Crater on Sol 986. Enjoy smile.gif
Click to view attachment
polaris
QUOTE (vikingmars @ Nov 19 2014, 01:18 PM) *
Thanks a lot, Damia ! How nice ! smile.gif

...and, Phil, jamescanvin and ngunn : -in theory- we would be able to discern from the very summit of Cape Tribulation a faint line lying on the north-western horizon showing Victoria Crater !
Herebelow as a reminder, Cape Tribulation as seen from the rim of Victoria Crater on Sol 986. Enjoy smile.gif



Well done, Olivier !
jamescanvin
QUOTE (vikingmars @ Nov 19 2014, 12:18 PM) *
...and, Phil, jamescanvin and ngunn : -in theory- we would be able to discern from the very summit of Cape Tribulation a faint line lying on the north-western horizon showing Victoria Crater !


Indeed. And a few sols ago Oppy took some images looking that way! I have been anxiously waiting for them to come down... pancam.gif
fredk
QUOTE (vikingmars @ Nov 19 2014, 01:18 PM) *
Cape Tribulation as seen from the rim of Victoria Crater on Sol 986.

Sorry, Viking, I have to correct you! I know it's been a long time since Victoria, but from there we only saw what we called the "Twin Peaks" on the north rim of Endeavour, and what we called "Cook", the highest peak on the east rim (the one with the prominent crater below the peak). The peak you show in your attachment is "Cook". Check out James's identification from Victoria in this post.

The first clear sighting of Tribulation I know of was on sol 1820 in this pancam frame. Again see James's identification in this post. That was near Cook Islands/Resolution, about 2 km south of Victoria.

It's still possible that Tribulation was technically visible from Victoria, but peeked only a couple of pixels above the horizon so wasn't discernable in pancam. In that case we would see the rim of Victoria from the summit of Tribulation. So it's definitely worth looking when we get there!
climber
I guess you all remember how we used to see Victoria coming from Endurance? Yes, the BEACON!
Any chance we could see a cliff of Victoria acting as a beacon...if the MER team is ever to command Oppy to take a picture by early morning?
marswiggle
Vikingmars. fredk, climber: I have something to add here, an enlarged (2x) and stretched (2x) crop of this sol 950 pancam, or rather the equivalent anaglyph, showing exactly those few pixels of Cape Tribulation and some peaks to the south of it.

I think this was the highest location where Cape Tribulation ever was visible at Victoria, and the image represents something like the topmost 10-15 m of the Endeavour rim peaks seen from ~18 km away. Conversely, the high craggy wall of Cape St. Mary facing us now could be just discernible from the summit as a mere sliver of the whole with 1-2 pix of vertical extent, unless the horizon comes between even worse than I imagine and/or the weather renders visibility too poor.

(Edited for style and to correct minor errors.)
fredk
As amazing as it sounds, I'm pretty sure that that bump just peeking above the horizon in marswiggle's post is a piece of the rim of Iazu, rather than Tribulation. The sky was extremely clear at that time. And Iazu should actually look a bit higher than Tribulation from Victoria.

Compare the view from 1820 (upper part of my new pic below, from James's post), when we got our first clear view of Tribulation with the bump in marswiggle's post (lower part):
Click to view attachment
In the upper part, Tribulation's on the left and Iazu on the right. It's pretty clear that the shape of marswiggle's bump (small bit on left, larger part on right) doesn't match the shape of Tribulation (two bits, taller one on right). But marswiggle's bump matches the shape of the Iazu piece pretty well. A fainter piece of Iazu farther to the right might be visible as well.

Still, we were definitely close to seeing Tribulation, and with another metre in rover height may just see Victoria from the summit...
marswiggle
Wow, fredk, never thought of that possibility. Another consideration, the azimuths from sol 950 location to the highest peaks of Endeavour / Iazu (using Google Mars) pretty much converge to each other, could they even be blended into one and the same blurred shape here? Admittedly, the shape in my previous post is largely similar to the Iazu outline, which does not exclude the possibility that Tribulation is 'shadowed' by the more distant rim.
fredk
Yikes, you may be right. Here's the Duck Bay - Iazu line of sight, showing it does come very close to Tribulation:
Click to view attachment
Something always looked odd about marswiggle's bump. The part circled in black looks less hazy than the rest (presumably Iazu). Maybe that's the highest bit of Tribulation, which was much closer and so should look less hazy:
Click to view attachment
This could be better checked using the PDS and combining the various frames, if someone has time...

But if this is right, it would mean we'll definitely have a line of sight to Victoria from the summit!
jamescanvin
QUOTE (fredk @ Nov 19 2014, 10:43 PM) *
Something always looked odd about marswiggle's bump. The part circled in black looks less hazy than the rest (presumably Iazu). Maybe that's the highest bit of Tribulation, which was much closer and so should look less hazy:


That is pretty tantalizing - someone definitely needs to dig out and process the PDS data. pancam.gif smile.gif
charborob
I don't know if this has been noticed before. In the attached (enhanced) pancam image taken on sol 3873, there is a very faint hill. I tried to bring it out somewhat (noise removed, fiddled with curves in Photoshop). The direction is over the plains, to the right of Cape Tribulation. Could it be Bopolu crater? On the other hand, it doesn't seem wide enough for that.
Click to view attachment
fredk
I've been eyeing that feature for several sols - notice how the view has improved since 3863: we have climbed substantially since then and can see much more of the feature:
http://mars.nasa.gov/mer/gallery/all/1/p/3...L1P2426R1M1.JPG
This is too far to the south to be Bopolu and has the wrong shape - here's an old view of Bopolu:
Click to view attachment
I've been meaning to check some azimuths but haven't had time. My too-many-years-staring-at-Mars-images intuition says it's the crater rim I've circled here:
Click to view attachment
But again, I'd need to do some measurements to be sure. Once we're closer to the summit we should see Iazu again and that'll fix things better. But if this is right, this is the farthest feature we've seen from Oppy - it's farther than Bopolu and the Miyamoto rim segment ("mule ears" we called it those years ago).
ngunn
I've been watching that too and thinking it might be Miyamoto. I'd expect the 'mule ears' to be lined up to appear as one from where we are now. But I have no handle on the azimuths so that was a wild guess. It would be exciting to be seeing an even more distant feature but I'd find that surprising given the curvature of the planet. Might be worth checking the theoretical visibility with Google Earth Mars
ngunn
A crude estimate from the pancams puts the main peak 40 to 45-ish degrees to the right of Tribulation summit which I think is about right for the combined 'Mule Ears'. Also I think there is a long low distant horizon feature well to the left in that same image. This could be the nearer hills we were originally looking for in that general direction when the 'Mule Ears' popped up instead.
jamescanvin
Based on the Azimuth and size I think it is probably this:

Click to view attachment
ngunn
Do you mean that is the main peak showing in the image charborob posted? That's the feature I thought might be the lower hills I referred to in my post just before yours. The trouble with those hills being the main peak visible in charborob's image is that if they were that big we should have seen them before when we first saw the 'Mule Ears'.
jamescanvin
Yes I think that is the horizon feature charborob posted. Back in 2010 when we were looking at the 'Mule Ears' we didn't have a great view on that azimuth. It sits in a bit of a dip and we had a closeish horizon in that direction back then. Now it looks to be much more favourable. I don't think the azimuth is right to be the 'Mule Ears', if we got the ID right back in 2010 they should be about half a Pancam frame further to the right.
ngunn
OK, thanks. I'm glad you're in on the hunt. If you're right we should have a great view of the Miyamoto rim just a bit to the right of what we see now. It's not much further away than than this feature. Maybe there is already something visible at the extreme right of the image. I've been scutinising that but everything darkens there so it's difficult to say. I hope you will have time to provide us with one of your wonderful reverse polar horizon analyses when we reach the summit.
jamescanvin
Yeah really looking forward to the summit pan, that should nail things down. I wonder how good the view will be though. I don't think the visibility is all that great, else I we should be able to see more of Miyamoto right now.
ngunn
Clear view forward: http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...DGP1870L0M1.JPG
vikingmars
YES ! Incredible ! We are now standing at the very summit of Cape Tribulation !
Here is the view towards the south : we are indeed standing at the topmost point.
I could not imagine such a feat in 2004 for the Opportunity mission in my wildest dreams...
CONGRATULATIONS to the MER team !
wheel.gif wheel.gif wheel.gif wheel.gif wheel.gif wheel.gif
Click to view attachment
James Sorenson
My take on this breathtaking and monumental vista. A truly wonderful achievement for the whole MER team. smile.gif pancam.gif




Polar:


1920x1080 Desktop Background
Phil Stooke
Stunning!

This is James's panorama in circular format.

Phil

Click to view attachment
tedstryk
Wow oh wow! I never thought I'd see Oppy become a mountain climber! wheel.gif wheel.gif wheel.gif wheel.gif wheel.gif
djellison
And for the past month or so - without the use of flash memory.

Extraordinary.
Explorer1
Congrats to the team! 11 years after landing; well deserved.

Presumably there will be a short stay to make a big panorama?
climber
Hi climber!(From climber)
fredk
QUOTE (Explorer1 @ Jan 7 2015, 06:17 PM) *
Presumably there will be a short stay to make a big panorama?
That's right, according to the new PS update:
QUOTE
The plans for Opportunity in 2015 remain the same: drive to the summit of Cape Tribulation, take what will probably be another breathtaking panorama from the vista point, and then rove on to Spirit of St. Louis Crater, and just beyond, Marathon Valley.


Huge congratulations to the team. What a way to celebrate 11 years!

With the opening up of the view to the south, we now have our first good look at Iazu in a long time:
Click to view attachment
polaris
QUOTE (climber @ Jan 7 2015, 07:12 PM) *
Hi climber!(From climber)


Hi Climber (from Paris) !
vikingmars
QUOTE (climber @ Jan 7 2015, 07:12 PM) *
Hi climber!(From climber)

Hi Climber (from Meudon) ! smile.gif
Astro0
If this isn't today's newspaper headline somewhere, then I'll be disappointed wink.gif

Click to view attachment

Nod to James for his summit image.
fredk
Ha! But maybe considering the translation from 11 human years to "rover years", and Oppy's condition, the story would read:

115 year old lady, deaf and suffering from arthritis and dementia, reaches summit walking backwards.
Explorer1
Deaf how? The antennas are working just fine! Maybe the old girls' senses of smell and taste have declined (her spectrometers), but those eyes are as sharp as ever...
Sense of touch too is fine too; the RAT drill is still usable, right?
fredk
I guess the analogy strains when pushed a bit too far. But the important point is that it's absolutely incredible that the fiesty old "lady" has made it this far!
tanjent
Go, Granny, go!
serpens
QUOTE (fredk @ Jan 7 2015, 07:34 PM) *
That's right, according to the new PS update:

I have to tip my hat to A.J.S Rayl. Her update/summary is, as always, outstanding.

The snippets on Pinnacle Island were particularly interesting, correlated to the identification of other oxygenated material in fractures, with sulphur also evident. I believe that we could assume a dearth of atmospheric oxygen combined with the high probability that alteration took place underground and has subsequently been exposed by erosion. A strong oxidant (hydrogen peroxide) can result from the reaction of anoxic water with iron sulphide (pyrite). For ground water induced alteration this seems a more likely path than photolysis.
James Sorenson
The 360 color Pancam Cape Tribulation pan has begun. pancam.gif

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...cam/2015-01-08/
fredk
And it's going to be epic...
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...2M1.JPG?sol3895
James Sorenson
To help me keep track, I'm going to be personally using Phil's projection of my Navcam summit pan to highlight what is roughly down sofar.

Click to view attachment
Phil Stooke
For years now we have been wondering if Victoria crater would be visible from Endeavour. Well, it's too bad about the dusty sky, but if it's ever going to be visible, it will be in this pan. Look for a narrow strip along the horizon ridge. In images taken in the afternoon, the visible far rim (under Cape St. Mary) would be shadowed, so the crater should probably look dark if we see it at all.

Phil
James Sorenson
Still some work left to be done on this segment, but here is a screenshot of the pan sofar. smile.gif

vikingmars
QUOTE (James Sorenson @ Jan 9 2015, 09:43 AM) *
Still some work left to be done on this segment, but here is a screenshot of the pan sofar. smile.gif

WOW ! Thanks a lot James to share this excellent work of yours with us smile.gif
SFJCody
Hmm, do I want the tau to improve over the next few sols so that we can see distant hills more clearly, or do I want it to stay the same so that all the pieces of the summit panorama will be taken under similar lighting conditions?
vikingmars
Good question SFJCody !
On my side, I vote for the Tau improvement to see more details in the far distance, because I can play with the contrast (i.e. reduce it) in my image processing wink.gif
serpens
Well Spirit held the mountain climbing height record for a good while, but Opportunity has eclipsed that too.
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