Hates the Infotainment
Join Date: May 2004
Location: NSA Archives
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That is an amazing picture... I noticed the wake lines right away. I can't wait to see some of the more "telephoto" shots of the rings and their contents (assuming it ever gets that close).
...into the light of a dark black night. |
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Antimatter Man
Join Date: May 2004
Location: that interweb thing
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Bad news: this was the closest we'll ever get to the rings for the the next 4 years.
Good news: latest set of images about to be discussed on NASA TV briefing right now. That image was 7km per pixel. They have one at 700m per pixel. Most of these images are still pretty raw... processing will clean up the digital images to remove scan lines, enhance contrast, and composite multiple filters, including IR and UV imaging to add a lot more value to these images. Briefing is starting. Confirmation that both ring plan passes left the spacecraft untouched with no safe events. |
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hustlin
Join Date: May 2004
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I can't get over it:
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Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2004
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Well technically all the bits that make up the rings are moons... but their orbits are so overlapped and they're so close together and densely packed that they essentially become 'one thing'. Kind of like how your molecules are so close together that you're 'one thing'.
If an object is in a discrete orbit of it's own, it's a moon. More precisely, a satellite, but we call them moons just to be confusing. Not to be further confused with The Moon, or Luna, since it's so bizarrely huge compared to other planetary/moon systems we know of that Terra/Luna are basically a binary planet. Pluto/Charon is the closest thing to what we have. Neat theories about how the relatively extreme tidal forces helped distribute heavy (ie, radioactive) elements in the Earth, and may have helped spur mutations and evolution... But I digress. |
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¡Damned!
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Purgatory
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Hates the Infotainment
Join Date: May 2004
Location: NSA Archives
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Has enough time passed since the rings formed (couple hundred million years ago according to the lady at the press conference), to know that these rings are not slowly coalescing into another very large moon... much like our moon may have coalesced?
...into the light of a dark black night. |
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Antimatter Man
Join Date: May 2004
Location: that interweb thing
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No definitive answer at the press conference to the future of the rings, but some of the gaps are shepherded by moons which may accrete some of the ring material over time, while some seem to be losing material into the rings over time.
Some fabulous new Wide angle images to match the F ring shot above, some Narrow angle zooms into the wake in the F ring, images of the magnetosphere, as well as audio and spectra from Cassini's 7 interactions with the Saturnian bowshock and magnetopause. Check the press release pages for them to post more. |
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Antimatter Man
Join Date: May 2004
Location: that interweb thing
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The big image of the Encke Gap with its inner scalloped edge (due to nearby moon travel) displays density waves that actually spiral in if you traced them around the plane, and may represent vertical oscillations off the ring plane (which ranges between 2 and 25m wide)
I think the briefing showed some animation from farther out which spotted moons in this gap, but it's not posted yet. Clearly their influence is impressive. |
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hustlin
Join Date: May 2004
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¡Damned!
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Purgatory
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We both had a serious 'WTF?' moment. Unbelievable. So it goes. |
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Hates the Infotainment
Join Date: May 2004
Location: NSA Archives
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Stunning stuff. I just switched my desktop to the "Approaching Saturn" shot from the JPL's May archive (the 17 million miles and closing one - natural color). Just awe-inspiring.
...into the light of a dark black night. |
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Space Pirate
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
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What I want to know is: what that super "bright" methane(?) speck is that is showing up in all the latest photos????....really interesting!!!
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9" monochrome
Join Date: May 2004
Location: 🇦🇺
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*nods/shakes head in appreciation and awe*
This is a cool thread! Thanks for the links, images and info. Sincerely! |
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Antimatter Man
Join Date: May 2004
Location: that interweb thing
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Sorry for slacking in my updates... new term start.
ESA has a spiffy new "Where is Cassini Now" Flash animation Dark side detail of Dione Quote:
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Ring junkies might tip their hats to this rakish new view. Quote:
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Antimatter Man
Join Date: May 2004
Location: that interweb thing
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Cassini discovers two new moons around Saturn.
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Mars Rover briefing tomorrow at 1pm EST will update Rover Health and crater rock analysis. |
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Antimatter Man
Join Date: May 2004
Location: that interweb thing
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NASA TV is about to show a press conference on Cassini's discovery of the 2 new Moons
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www.stevegongphoto.com
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I believe Carbon 14 dating is not suitable for things that have been around this long. Carbon 14 can only be used to date things that are thousands of years old.
Potassium 40 dating however, iirc can be used to date rocks from over 4 billion years old. |
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Antimatter Man
Join Date: May 2004
Location: that interweb thing
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False colour image of the rings based on temperature.
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Also on tap this week, the GENESIS spacecraft is returning from its mission to sample the solar wind and is scheduled to drop it's sample return payload for airborne helicopter capture on Sep 8. |
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Antimatter Man
Join Date: May 2004
Location: that interweb thing
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We're also inside a month until the next major Titan flyby, in anticipation of Huygens release near Xmas. |
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BANNED
I am worthless beyond hope. Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Washington, DC
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I just want to keep an eye on this thread!
The comment about the one moon looking like the Death Star was pretty good, too. |
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Antimatter Man
Join Date: May 2004
Location: that interweb thing
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hustlin
Join Date: May 2004
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Antimatter Man
Join Date: May 2004
Location: that interweb thing
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Antimatter Man
Join Date: May 2004
Location: that interweb thing
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Coming up on 4 hours to the Titan flyby webcast.
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Antimatter Man
Join Date: May 2004
Location: that interweb thing
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Flyby success!
The webcast of data playback is starting. |
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Antimatter Man
Join Date: May 2004
Location: that interweb thing
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Looks like only 3 non-Apple notebooks in a room of 10+ glowing fruit logos.
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Antimatter Man
Join Date: May 2004
Location: that interweb thing
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Huygens Landing Site
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More data should come out tomorrow. There was some fascinating chemistry stuff discussed this morning about the propensity for polymerization of certain hydrocarbons into other chains, sometimes 'metallic', sometimes 'white', and sometimes 'black' to certain instruments, but I would have liked to have heard more on how/why certain transformations occur. Where in the atmosphere seems important, but Titan is somewhat unusual in that it passes in and out of Saturn's magnetosphere periodically in its orbit and is sometimes fully exposed to the solar wind, while at other times benefits from shielding against certain cosmic emissions and potentially mutagenic radiation. Yesterday's results from scooping a sample of Titan's atmosphere. Quote:
Last edited by curiousuburb : 2004-10-28 at 12:30. |
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BANNED
I am worthless beyond hope. Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Washington, DC
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curiousuburb, thanks for the distilled updates. This is good stuff.
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Antimatter Man
Join Date: May 2004
Location: that interweb thing
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Planetary Society/ESA Announce: Titan Art Contest
Best image(s) by Nov 28th win a trip to Germany to watch Huygens descent live at ESA control. Quote:
It is remotely possible you might even get a bit of Titan named after you. |
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