Cassini-Huygens *2* - ...more Saturn/Titan...

Palomar · 2004-12-16 06:56:14

http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish … 2004]First Dione flyby pic I've found...
*...and oddly enough it's not at the C-H mission homepage. ??? They haven't posted anything new there since yesterday. :hm:

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.htm … pectacular photo

*Saturn (well...part of Saturn, lol!) and Dione. :up:

[Still no updates at the mission homepage, and this pic wasn't posted there either. :hm: ]

--Cindy

P.S.: Shaun: I've seen photos of how various objects appear to the color blind (partially so or otherwise). Wish I had some suggestions in reference to your post.

::EDIT:: Found these just now:

http://www.saturntoday.com/news/viewsr. … 06]Another side of Dione That's a long ridge. Sure is pockmarked.

http://www.saturntoday.com/news/viewsr. … 05]Surface of Dione Interesting grooves.

Shaun Barrett · 2004-12-16 09:51:13

Thanks, Graeme and Cindy, but I'm not really that concerned about my colour vision in cases like this. You just learn to live with it.

On a brighter note, we may be only hours away from learning, once and for all, whether there really are any hydrocarbon lakes or seas on Titan. It seems the data up to now have really been unexpected and totally confusing - always an exciting thing to happen in science.

Palomar · 2004-12-16 13:29:08

http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish … 122004]New Storms Seen on Titan

*This information comes from Gemini North and Keck 2 telescopes in Hawaii. However, as it pertains to Titan, I'm going to post it here. Rightfully mentions using ground-based optics in conjunction with missions like C-H.

Using adaptive optics on the Gemini North and Keck 2 telescopes on Mauna Kea, Hawai'i, a U.S. team has discovered a new phenomenon in the atmosphere of Saturn’s largest moon Titan.

These storms could be created by surface activities, like cryovolcanoes which could spew an icy mix of chemicals into the atmosphere. It could also be caused by seasonal temperature changes, like the weather here on Earth.

Astronomers had seen storms around Titan's south pole before, but now they've been discovered at the moon's mid-latitudes as well.

--Cindy :up:

::EDIT::

Hints about what is happening on this frigid world could be obtained as the Huygens probe from the Cassini mission drops through Titan’s atmosphere in mid-January, 2005.
The Gemini-Keck II observations were the result of good timing and telescope availability. According to Gemini scientist Chad Trujillo, Titan’s weather patterns can be stable for many months, with only occasional bursts of unusual activity like these recently discovered atmospheric features.

Palomar · 2004-12-16 20:22:12

(Be sure to check out the story in the post above this one, regarding new storms seen on Titan!)

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.htm … pectacular photo
*Saturn (well...part of Saturn, lol!) and Dione. :up:

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/gs2. … image]This one's even MORE spectacular!

*...it's in color this time! Awesome. Dione looks like a steel ball bearing compared to Saturn's peaches and yellows. :laugh: Interesting that some of the Saturnian storms are more noticeable in the non-color pic, and vice versa for others being more noticeable in the color pic. :-\

-*-

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/gs2. … ge]Highest resolution view of Dione

To the surprise of Cassini imaging scientists, the wispy terrain does not consist of thick ice deposits, but rather the bright ice cliffs created by tectonic fractures.

-*-

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/gs2. … age]Spying Titan's weather

*False-color images. Skies over southern region.

visual infrared mapping spectrometer over two recent flybys

-*-

Titans]http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/gs2.cgi?path=../multimedia/images/titan/images/PIA06160.jpg&type=image]Titan's Many Layers "Colorized to look like true color." Stunning.

-*-

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/press-r … fm]Article -- Press release Dec. 16th

--Cindy

Palomar · 2004-12-17 08:11:36

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cassini- … tml]Atomic oxygen eroding the E ring?

*Eruption of atomic oxygen (I recall an article relative to that at the beginning of the mission). They're speculating the E ring could disappear in 100 million years if it's not replenished. 275 million pounds of oxygen was suddenly released in a short amount of time. Says Saturn's magnetosphere is very different from Jupiter's.

"We aren't sure yet whether this was a transient event or part of a routine recycling process in Saturn's magnetosphere," he said.

-*-

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cassini- … tml]Saturn System Driven by Ice

Ice particles are key players in the ever-changing panorama at Saturn

"The evidence indicates that in the last 10 million to 100 million years, fresh material probably was added to the ring system," he said. The research team proposed that such "renewal events" are from the fragmentation of small moons, each probably about 20 kilometers (12 miles) across.
"The interiors of the tiny moonlets, which have been shielded from contamination by the continual collisions with each other, are the source of purer water ice," he said.
"Both the oxygen fluctuation and the spectral variation in Saturn's rings support a model of ring history in which small moons are continually destroyed to produce new rings."

--Cindy

Palomar · 2004-12-20 13:58:49

Saturns]http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/lightning_storms_saturn.html?20122004]Saturn's lightning 1 million times stronger than Earth's

*They think perhaps it, as a gas giant, might have magnetic fields similar to the Sun's, "which rotates at different speeds at different latitudes."

Mentions the perplexing variations in Saturn's radio rotation rate.

Gurnett suggests that the change in the radio rotation rate is difficult to explain. "Saturn is unique in that its magnetic axis is almost exactly aligned with its rotational axis. That means there is no rotationally induced wobble in the magnetic field, so there must be some secondary effect controlling the radio emission. We hope to nail that down during the next four to eight years of the Cassini mission."

Can listen to radio sounds of Saturn's rotation at a link in the article. Unfortunately it gives an error page when I click into it.

--Cindy

Julius Caeser · 2004-12-20 17:23:25

what happened to radar images taken during TitanB flyby.....cant find any news regarding such pics!

djellison · 2004-12-21 04:14:01

the B flyby had no synthetic apeture radar imaging.

Doug

Palomar · 2004-12-21 07:12:00

Heres]http://www.saturntoday.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=14841]Here's some info on Titan-B flyby

*...gets down to the nitty-gritty.

I especially enjoyed the reference to the northern polar region of Titan being illuminated by Saturn-shine.

I could go for that myself. It'd be psychedelically groovy. "Let the Saturn-shine, let the Saturn-shine-in...the Saturn Shine In!" Yep, might have to rewrite the chorus to the song The Age of Aquarius. :laugh: :;):

--Cindy

GraemeSkinner · 2004-12-23 22:24:21

Lets hope its a happy separation day :band:

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/press-r … D=516]Link

image from NASAs website, ne credit for the artwork showing Huygens separating.

Graeme

Palomar · 2004-12-23 22:31:49

Lets hope its a happy separation day :band:

*Yes indeed. Probably read this long ago, but it was a nice refresher of info just the same:

(Huygens is) fed electrical power through an umbilical cable. It has been riding along during the nearly seven-year journey to Saturn largely in a "sleep" mode, awakened every six months for three-hour instrument and engineering checkups.

-also-

Currently, both the orbiter and the probe are on an impact trajectory with Titan. This is the only way to ensure that Cassini delivers the probe in the right location...
On Dec. 27, the Cassini orbiter will perform a deflection maneuver to keep it from following Huygens into Titan's atmosphere

*I sure hope so! Please, please Cassini...perform that deflection maneuver flawlessly! :x:fingers crossed:x:

--Cindy

Palomar · 2004-12-24 13:05:59

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/i … ID=1245]It really is Saturn

:up:

And that Spot will be interesting to keep tabs on, particularly as comparisons go. This is the first new image to roll in over the past couple of days.

-*-

Huygens separates from Cassini just before 9:00 p.m. my time.

--Cindy

::EDIT::

Sideswiping]http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/image-details.cfm?imageID=885]"Sideswiping Saturn"

*Marvelous -- exquisite! (And how did I manage to initially miss this gem of a photo?)

Saturn's tilt relative to the Sun throws dramatic shadows of the rings onto the planet's northern hemisphere.

Palomar · 2004-12-24 22:54:21

:band: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/press-r … 19]Huygens separation a success :band:

*Flawless.

NASA's Deep Space Network tracking stations in Madrid, Spain and Goldstone, Calif., received the signal at 7:24 p.m. (PST). All systems performed as expected and there were no problems reported with the Cassini spacecraft.

--Cindy

Shaun Barrett · 2004-12-25 00:51:50

What a Christmas present!
Brilliant! :up:

Palomar · 2004-12-25 07:53:39

Sideswiping]http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/image-details.cfm?imageID=885]"Sideswiping Saturn"

*I can't resist; I'm in love with this planet.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/ … c2.jpg]Big Beautiful Saturn

*This is a specially-created image from Mattias Malmer, a digital imager. It's being hosted at today's Astropix. I'm posting the photo separate from the caption; otherwise I'd have to remember to re-insert the link tomorrow (site archives daily). Here's the caption:

Explanation: As a present to APOD readers, digital imager Mattias Malmer offers a very high resolution view of big beautiful Saturn. A labor of love, his full mosaic, composite image is contained in a large 5 megabyte jpeg file (preview here, download here) and spans the gorgeous gas giant from ring tip to ring tip. It was pieced together from 102 frames (N00020905 to N00021033) recorded by the Cassini spacecraft ISS on October 6, 2004. The red, green, and blue frames are all uncalibrated, unvalidated images available to the public through the Cassini web site. Malmer's full panorama has a pixel size of 8400 by 3300, so only a substantially cropped version appears above. Enjoy the view and have a safe and Happy Holiday Season!

*What a lovely contrast of colors between the blue shadows and the soft yellow-peach. (What a pity that most of humanity has never seen the gorgeous spectacles we witness daily via our wonderful modern technologies). I especially feel for the astronomers of old, who would have given their right arm to enjoy these splendors as we're able to. And more's the pity for folks of today who aren't the least bit interested (their loss!). :-\

Cassinis]http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/image-details.cfm?imageID=1246]Cassini's Holiday Greetings

*Well...I see one of the mentioned moons, anyway. :laugh: Turned the brightness and contrast UP on my monitor and I still cannot see the other one. Will be interested to learn more about how the shadows of the rings affect the overall planetary weather.

--Cindy

DannyITR · 2004-12-25 09:15:12

Excellent. Now we just have to wait til Jan 14th. I'll make sure to clear my schedule that day.

Palomar · 2004-12-25 22:12:19

*I recall an earlier article, a month or so ago, saying it wouldn't be possible for Cassini to capture an image(s) of Huygens at any time because of antennae direction or something similar. :hm:

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/i … 49]Cassini snaps image of Huygens

*Taken approx. 12 hours after release.

Zoom]http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/image-details.cfm?imageID=1250]"Zoom" image

--Cindy

Shaun Barrett · 2004-12-26 00:58:14

Hi Cindy!
I was having trouble finding Mimas in that picture you linked, too, until I read further down in the text about where to look for it:-

Titan (5,150 kilometers, or 3,200 miles across) is visible near lower right with its thick, orange-colored atmosphere, and faint Mimas (398 kilometers, or 247 miles across) appears just right of the rings¿ outer edge.

Armed with this information, I was then able to discern a VERY FEINT point of light, about half the size of the punctuation period at the end of this sentence. To find it, go to the right-hand extremity of the visible rings and, from there, go 20 mm (4/5ths of an inch) to the right and 5 mm (1/5th of an inch) upward. Does that help at all?
Maybe I'm being insulting in giving the above instructions, since you've probably read the text thoroughly and the problem lies with your monitor rather than anything else. In that case, I apologise in advance.

Palomar · 2004-12-26 11:12:54

Hi Cindy!
I was having trouble finding Mimas in that picture you linked, too, until I read further down in the text about where to look for it:-
Titan (5,150 kilometers, or 3,200 miles across) is visible near lower right with its thick, orange-colored atmosphere, and faint Mimas (398 kilometers, or 247 miles across) appears just right of the rings¿ outer edge.
Armed with this information, I was then able to discern a VERY FEINT point of light, about half the size of the punctuation period at the end of this sentence. To find it, go to the right-hand extremity of the visible rings and, from there, go 20 mm (4/5ths of an inch) to the right and 5 mm (1/5th of an inch) upward. Does that help at all?
Maybe I'm being insulting in giving the above instructions, since you've probably read the text thoroughly and the problem lies with your monitor rather than anything else. In that case, I apologise in advance.

*Hiya Shaun: No need ever to apologize for being helpful! Yesterday I turned both brightness and contrast up to 75%, but my eyes were -very- tired and I still couldn't see it (this was prior to your post, of course). Just now turned the brightness and contrast up to 100% (which yesterday would have done my eyes in) -- yep, can see Mimas now -- barely (and thanks mostly to your directions).

Usually I have little trouble finding Enceladus or Mimas or Atlas in pics (wherein they appear extremely tiny), but that photo was an exception.

Thanks.

--Cindy

Yang Liwei Rocket · 2004-12-27 01:45:44

Excellent. Now we just have to wait til Jan 14th. I'll make sure to clear my schedule that day.

So far, it's great news !!

The Cassini-Huygens lander is doing fantastic, just a little more to go

:up:

falkor · 2004-12-27 13:33:08

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/images.cfm?subCategoryID=10]

On Christmas Eve, http://www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArt … 910716]the Huygens probe — a disk about 9-feet across — detached itself from the much larger Cassini craft and began a free fall to Titan, which is Saturn's largest moon and one of the most mysterious objects in the solar system. If all goes as planned, it will touch down Jan. 14.

The next step on the mission is for Cassini to correct her trajectory. "At the moment, Cassini is following us, to crash onto Titan," Sollazzo said. But on December 29, Cassini will fire her engines to deflect her orbit so that she will miss Titan while Huygens descends. Then, on December 31 and January 1, Cassini will target Iapetus, Saturn's wayward yin-yang moon, passing within 117,000 kilometers (72,700 miles) of the surface. Apart from that encounter, "Cassini will go into a quiet mode to get ready to support the probe link," Sollazzo said.

Come January 14, the action will be in Darmstadt, Germany, at ESA's European Space Operations Centre (ESOC). The Planetary Society will be there to wait and watch with the mission team to see what Huygens reveals http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercuryn … 049.htm]of the surface of Titan, and will share the new facts, images, and sounds with the world as they arrive.

http://www.newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1511] THIS IS TITAN but just what is down there? down on the moon's surface?

a) oceans and oceans of lifeless liquid and frozen material
b) oceans and oceans of mystery, we could spend 10 years down there and still be wondering
c) if there was anything there, we would know by now
d) heeeey!! another civilisation!! give it time - 14 JAN will reveal all

Palomar · 2004-12-28 07:06:09

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/i … 53]Huygens shines for Cassini's cameras

*Image obtained 2 days after departure from Cassini.

-*-

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/i … 4]Close-up of Huygens

Although only a few pixels across, this image is helping navigators reconstruct the probe's trajectory and pinpoint its position relative to Cassini. This information so far shows that the probe and Cassini are right on the mark and well within the predicted trajectory accuracy. This information is important to help establish the required geometry between the probe and the orbiter for radio communications during the probe descent on January 14.

-*-

Saturns]http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/image-details.cfm?imageID=1242]Saturn's Snowball

*Shine on, you crazy diamond!

--Cindy

hubricide · 2004-12-28 23:04:26

Let's hope Huygens didn't reach for the secret too soon (it reached for the moon). PARTS I-VII AND PARTS VII-XI and of course the secret 'lost' PART MCII

Yang Liwei Rocket · 2004-12-29 05:14:26

Lets hope its a happy separation day :band:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/press-r … D=516]Link

image from NASAs website, ne credit for the artwork showing Huygens separating.
Graeme

The CassiniHuygens Lander seems ready to get great info from Titan

This one from the spacesite dot com

Cassini Mission Status Report
28 Dec 2004

NASA's Cassini spacecraft successfully performed a getaway maneuver on Monday, Dec. 27, to keep it from following the European Space Agency's Huygens probe into the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan. This maneuver established the required geometry between the probe and the orbiter for radio communications during the probe descent on Jan. 14. The probe has no navigating capability, so the Cassini orbiter had been placed on a deliberate collision course with Titan to ensure the accurate delivery of the probe to Titan.
....Next for Cassini is a flyby of Saturn's icy moon Iapetus on Dec. 31. Iapetus is Saturn's two-faced moon -- one side is very bright, and the other is very dark. One scenario for this striking difference is that the moon's surface is being resurfaced by some material spewing from within.

Also a report on NBC, a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA). The US spacee agency has done fantastic on this mission so far, but can the Lander make it to the strange world of Titan ?

http://www.nbc4.tv/news/4031301/detail. … etail.html

European Space Agency's Huygens Probe appears shining as it coasts away from Cassini in this close-up

http://images.spaceref.com/news/2004/IM … -br500.jpg

I think the picture of the probe on the NASA site that's posted above may be better/sharper

Palomar · 2004-12-29 08:59:59

Currently, both the orbiter and the probe are on an impact trajectory with Titan. This is the only way to ensure that Cassini delivers the probe in the right location...
On Dec. 27, the Cassini orbiter will perform a deflection maneuver to keep it from following Huygens into Titan's atmosphere
*I sure hope so! Please, please Cassini...perform that deflection maneuver flawlessly! :x:fingers crossed:x:
--Cindy

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/cassini/0 … ml]Cassini deflection maneuver a success :up:

*Thank goodness. Now both are on their respective ways. Can't fathom the brain work and computational power which goes into all the planning.

Titans]http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/image-details.cfm?imageID=1256]Titan's "squashed pole"

*Image obtained November 1.

Saturn's planet-sized moon Titan displays a surprisingly flattened-looking north pole in this Cassini image. The cause of this flattening is not presently known.

--Cindy

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