Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander

Palomar · 2005-11-16 16:57:53

*Thanks SpaceNut and noosfractal, for the assistance.

Ah I see some of the problem in that this link
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalo … r=PIA07749
is not quite the same as this one
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/archive/PIA07749.mov

I did click on that 2nd link previously. It goes into download mode, later says "Complete" or "Open" (can't recall which)...then nothing (blank field).

You may wish to install Quicktime
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/
or install the Quicktime codecs for Microsoft Media Player
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Qui … native.htm

Will do that.

Thanks again, guys.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-11-17 09:17:48

*Am going to install Quicktime this evening, to see that Dione flyby. Couldn't manage it last evening (time constraints).

Best pic yet of Pandora -- in color

(Does this give you a craving for a baked potato??) Anywho, caption says Pandora is covered with a "fine dust-sized icy material." That's a bit of a large crater, in comparison to P's overall size, at the extreme left of the photo. I wonder if the IAU will assign a name to it.

Craters formed on this object by impacts appear to be covered by debris, a process that probably happens rapidly in a geologic sense. The grooves and small ridges on Pandora (84 kilometers, or 52 miles across) suggest that fractures affect the overlying smooth material.

Gives comparison to Hyperion (see link).

-*-

Best pic yet of Calypso -- in color

Is a Trojan moon of Tethys:

Calypso trails Tethys in its orbit by 60 degrees. Telesto is the other Tethys Trojan, orbiting Saturn 60 degrees ahead of Tethys.

-*-

Next Cassini flyby is of Rhea, on Nov. 26. Cassini will sweep past Rhea at an altitude of 300 miles.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-11-18 07:22:32

Radio Retrospective of Titan

*I'm pressed for time so will copy and paste highlights from the article:

This set of images shows the areas mapped so far on Saturn's moon Titan by the Cassini radar mapper using its synthetic aperture radar imaging mode.

These combined radar passes reveal a variety of geologic features, including impact craters, wind-blown deposits, channels and cryovolcanic features.

The radar swaths are superimposed on a false-color image made from observations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-11-21 11:54:08

Rhea flyby Nov. 26

Mission Description

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-11-26 07:38:59

*Rhea flyby 6 hours from the time of this post (8:33 a.m. EST).

Mimas, Herschel and Rings

Hmmmmm. I wonder if Darth and Co. are enjoying the view.

-*-

Carthage Linea -- Dione

Those long squiggly lines...

-*-

C-H wins space award

As well it should!

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-11-27 08:34:45

http://www.space.com/imageoftheday/imag … 51124.html

*Majestic tangerine skies of Titan. Is an artist's rendition based on science data.

Would like to have that framed and hanging on the wall.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-11-28 17:46:35

*The fountains of Enceladus:

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/i … ageID=1873

Actually, it looks like a photo of a solar eclipse.

Recent Cassini images of Saturn's moon Enceladus backlit by the sun show the fountain-like sources of the fine spray of material that towers over the south polar region. This image was taken looking more or less broadside at the "tiger stripe" fractures observed in earlier Enceladus images. It shows discrete plumes of a variety of apparent sizes above the limb of the moon.

I loooooove Cassini.

Here's the frontpage caption for that image:

Cassini imaging scientists are excited about intriguing images of fountain-like plumes towering over Saturn's moon Enceladus. Images of a crescent Enceladus returned by Cassini this past weekend show multiple plumes in striking detail. The plumes consist of fine icy particles, emanating from the warm, geologically active area surrounding the south pole of Enceladus and believed now to supply the material of Saturn's E ring.

Interesting coincidence of the E Ring being supplied by Enceladus.

Two more images:

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/i … ageID=1874

Oh my. :shock:

The greatly enhanced and colorized image shows the enormous extent of the fainter, larger-scale component of the plume.

And it's psychedelic too. 8) Who says science is boring? It's far out, baby! Yeah! (Yet another image to be made into a poster and hung on my wall in here...)

Finally:

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/i … ageID=1875

At present, it is not clear if the plume particles emanating from the south pole arises because of water vapor escaping from warm ice that is exposed to the surface. Another possibility is that at some depth beneath the surface, the temperatures are hot enough for water to become liquid, which then, under pressure, escapes to the surface like a cold Yellowstone geyser.

Give us this day our daily Cassini discoveries...

Images of other moons, such as Tethys and Mimas, taken in the last 10 months from similar lighting and viewing geometries, and with identical camera parameters, were closely examined to demonstrate that the plume towering above Enceladus' south pole is real and not a camera artifact.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-11-29 07:17:03

*Rhea flyby photos rolling in [poor little Rhea, getting bumped in the headlines in favor of Enceladus and its geyser activity]:

Closeup (531 km distant)

Two words: Rugged, pitted. I wonder how deep that drop-off (cliff wall?) is. That's quite an abdunant rash of craters.

-*-

From distance of 171,516 km

I wonder why its craters are so splotchy in appearance. The larger ones, I mean. They resemble impressionist rosettes.

-*-

From distance of 78,481 km

So devoid, so lifeless.

-*-

Two pics of Rhea posing with Rings:

Balancing act

Closeup of Rhea and Rings

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-11-29 08:02:36

F Ring is a spiral

*Brief article includes animation, images and artists' conception.

Ever since Voyager 1 returned detailed images of Saturn's F ring back in 1980, astronomers have struggled to understand its bizarre features.
The F ring, an outer thin wisp of icy material orbiting the giant planet, was discovered in 1979. It's been described as having clumps, strands and braids by various research groups.
"These strands, initially interpreted as concentric ring segments, are in fact connected and form a single one-arm trailing spiral winding at least three times around Saturn..."

And it is changing rapidly. The spiral wound itself tighter between November 2004 and May 2005, the Cassini observations show. It will continue to tighten until the strands blend into a more uniform feature, Showalter said.

Pandora and Prometheus mentioned. They're speculating these two moons are more disruptive than "shepherding." Also discusses possible interplay of new small moon S/2004 S6.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-12-01 06:50:14

*Huygens' landing site has been determined:

Scientists have discovered exactly where on Saturn's largest moon, Titan, the European Space Agency's Huygens probe landed last January. Knowing the landing location will allow them to directly compare data from Huygens with remote sensing data from NASA's Cassini orbiter.

Article

-also-

Titan's methane likely comes from inside.

The methane giving an orange hue to Saturn's giant moon Titan likely comes from geologic processes in its interior according to measurements from the Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer aboard the European Space Agency's Huygens probe. The instrument also found evidence of liquid methane in the surface material.

Article

They say they've determined Titan's methane isn't biological in origin. The favored theory seems to be venting from an interior supply...perhaps the supply was "trapped" during Titan's formation.

--Cindy

Yang Liwei Rocket · 2005-12-01 17:09:46

www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Results_from_Mars_Express_and_Huygens/
30 November 2005
After a seven-year journey on board the NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini spacecraft, ESA’s Huygens probe was released on 25 December 2004. It reached the upper layer of Titan's atmosphere on 14 January 2005 and landed on the surface after a parachute descent of 2 hours and 28 minutes.

Clear images of the surface were obtained below 40 km altitude – revealing an extraordinary world, resembling Earth in many respects, especially in meteorology, geomorphology and fluvial activity. The images show strong evidence for erosion due to liquid flows, possibly methane, on Titan.

Highlights of ESA’s Huygens mission

The probe descended over the boundary between a bright icy terrain eroded by fluvial activity, and a darker area that looked like a dry river- or lakebed. Huygens landed in the dark area. Water-ice pebbles up to a few centimetres in diameter were scattered near the landing site, and the surface here was found to have the consistency of loose wet sand.

Winds were found to blow predominantly in the direction of Titan’s rotation, west to east winds, with speeds up to 450 km/h above an altitude of 120 km. The winds decreased with decreasing altitude and then and changed direction close to the surface. An unexpected layer of high wind-shear was encountered between altitudes of 100 and 60 km.
http://esamultimedia.esa.int/multimedia … an011a.mp3

Commodore · 2005-12-06 21:44:03

The Saturn Family Photo, just in time for the Holidays...

cassini.12.06.05.lg.jpg

Link

Palomar · 2005-12-09 12:40:51

*Hi Commodore: Yes, nice. Those tiger stripes on Enceladus are something else.

No trick, just a treat

Photo obtained Oct. 31; Cassini was 800,000 miles from Saturn during. Rings are on-edge.

-*-

Icy Moons phase of Cassini finished

the Cassini mission is releasing a flood of new views of the moons Enceladus, Dione, Rhea, Hyperion and Iapetus.

Also includes "zoomable" mosaics of Rhea and Hyperion.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-12-12 14:05:45

*Superb:

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/i … ageID=1900

It's so cool being able to see through portions of the Rings. This is one of those "wish it were in color" times. But is terrific regardless.

A gorgeous close-up look at the Saturnian atmosphere reveals small, bright and puffy clouds with long filamentary streamers that are reminiscent of the anvil-shaped Earthly cirrus clouds that extend downwind of thunderstorms. Dark ring shadows hang over the scene while the planet rotates beneath.

-*-

Next Titan flyby is Dec. 26. Cassini will be 6,500 miles (10,400 km) from Titan at closest approach.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-12-14 16:15:25

A strange bulge in Saturn's Rings

NASA's Cassini spacecraft took this surprising photograph of Saturn's rings precisely edge-on. What's unusual is the strange bulge right at the edge of the rings. It's possible this bulge is created by a kilometer-sized chunk of material that's disrupting the ring material with its gravity.

Other possibility mentioned. In the lower-most photo it has a definite "eye of a needle" look.

-*-

Gaps in Saturn's Rings

Cassini was 277,000 miles from Saturn at the time. Amazing pics, like always.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-12-19 12:45:11

*Vote for Cassini!

TIME Magazine Top 10 Photos of 2005 poll: Dione, Rings/shadows against Saturn's globe. I voted and Cassini already has the lion's share of votes at 38%.

--Cindy

Rxke · 2005-12-20 10:51:29

42%!

Wow, I'm quite impressed, never'd have thought it would stand out so much from the others...

Surely, there are some astronomy-sites campaigning for this? Or maybe the other pictures are too 'common' or otherwise too much reminding us of past misery etc... Maybe this is a 'flight from reality' reaction of the voters?...

Weird. I think it's astronomy.com or some other site causing this, would love to see the actual n. of votes, instead of percentages, would explain a lot...

(subscribest to topic to see explanations)

Palomar · 2005-12-20 11:23:09

42%!
Wow, I'm quite impressed, never'd have thought it would stand out so much from the others...
Surely, there are some astronomy-sites campaigning for this?

*Yep. Spaceref.com, for one (that's where I first saw it). Space.com is too, IIRC. Glad to know it's jumped to 42%.

Or maybe the other pictures are too 'common' or otherwise too much reminding us of past misery etc... Maybe this is a 'flight from reality' reaction of the voters?...

My thoughts exactly. And entirely understandable, IMO. :-\

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-12-22 07:49:41

Solstice season with Saturn

*A gem of an article with info about Saturnalia. And what a lovely photo.

-*-

9th Titan flyby: December 26

This is of especial importance:

During Cassini's Dec. 26 flyby of Titan, the spacecraft will be in the same region that NASA's Voyager 1 flew by in 1980. Cassini's path through the tail of Titan's magnetic field will provide scientists new data to compare with what Voyager found 25 years ago.

Go Cassini!

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-12-23 08:55:15

Cassini's galactic aspirations

*Cassini took a brief break from the Saturnian system recently, to photograph (with its wide-angle camera) the Carina Nebula. This was done for calibration purposes. The CN is aprox 8,000 light years distant and 200 light years in diameter.

--Cindy

::EDIT:: Glorious Saturn

"Despite Cassini's revelations, Saturn remains a world of mystery..."

The photo was taken with filters which most match the human eye's perception, so it's a "true" photo as colors/hues go.

Palomar · 2006-01-06 08:40:54

http://www.saturntoday.com/

*Lots of new photos and etc. Updates infrequently.

Tethys -- Adrift at Saturn is especially nice.

As for Moonrise Above Titan, I don't see a reference to which moon the other is. It seems round and full (not on of the captured asteroid types), so I'm guessing Tethys or Dione. Perhaps Enceladus?

--Cindy

Palomar · 2006-01-09 13:51:53

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=19211

*That's one awesome photo.

Update on Cassini: Is doing fine.

http://www.saturntoday.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=19196

...here is an extract from the Significant Events report for December 24, 2004, Christmas Eve:
Everything looks good and nominal.
JPL provided dinner for those of us who had to work. There was slight congestion at the dessert table, but everything else was nominal.

Here's to another grand year with Cassini, 2006!

--Cindy

Palomar · 2006-01-11 12:28:08

Next Titan flyby is January 15; will swoop past Titan at an altitude of 1,300 miles (2,000 km).

Deep Clouds

*Nice.

Twice as far from the Sun as Jupiter, Saturn's colder temperatures mean that clouds form lower in its atmosphere. As a result, the visible cloud patterns - so striking on Jupiter - occur deeper inside Saturn, reducing their visibility in natural color views.

--Cindy

REB · 2006-01-20 08:46:17

My theory about Enceladus. This small world has a diameter is about 310 miles (500 km) and it would fit in the boundaries of the State of Arizona. Such a tiny world should be cold and dead, yet this world is alive. It is kept alive by gravitational forces between Saturn and Saturn’s other moon (Like IO and Europa of Jupiter).

Enceladus is losing water. I suspect this water is supplying material for Saturn’s rings. This water ice spirals down from Enceladus, forms the rings as it continues to slowly spiral down to Saturn.

Enceladus must have been bigger in the past. How much bigger I do not know. For that, we would have to calculate the rate of water loss over the age of Enceladus. The future of this little world is probably a small rocky body covered with a thin layer of ice.

REB · 2006-01-20 08:48:32

I wish Huygens could have snapped a picture above Titan’s global haze. Imagine Saturn in a blue sky with a sea of orange below.

New Mars Forums

Announcement

#176 2005-11-16 16:57:53

Re: Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander

#177 2005-11-17 09:17:48

Re: Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander

#178 2005-11-18 07:22:32

Re: Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander

#179 2005-11-21 11:54:08

Re: Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander

#180 2005-11-26 07:38:59

Re: Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander

#181 2005-11-27 08:34:45

Re: Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander

#182 2005-11-28 17:46:35

Re: Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander

#183 2005-11-29 07:17:03

Re: Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander

#184 2005-11-29 08:02:36

Re: Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander

#185 2005-12-01 06:50:14

Re: Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander

#186 2005-12-01 17:09:46

Re: Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander

#187 2005-12-06 21:44:03

Re: Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander

#188 2005-12-09 12:40:51

Re: Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander

#189 2005-12-12 14:05:45

Re: Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander

#190 2005-12-14 16:15:25

Re: Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander

#191 2005-12-19 12:45:11

Re: Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander

#192 2005-12-20 10:51:29

Re: Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander

#193 2005-12-20 11:23:09

Re: Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander

#194 2005-12-22 07:49:41

Re: Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander

#195 2005-12-23 08:55:15

Re: Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander

#196 2006-01-06 08:40:54

Re: Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander

#197 2006-01-09 13:51:53

Re: Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander

#198 2006-01-11 12:28:08

Re: Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander

#199 2006-01-20 08:46:17

Re: Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander

#200 2006-01-20 08:48:32

Re: Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander

Board footer