Aimless In Space
--J.B.S. Haldane--
Rachael - Detroit - WSU
Mad Scientist-in-Training
Clastrophysicist (Classics/Astronomy/Physics)
This is my super spectacular (mostly) space blog!! I also enjoy math, Doctor Who, Supernatural, Cowboy Bebop, Fullmetal Alchemist, jellyfish, Detroit, Futurama, and cats.
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making an OKcupid account
AGREED!
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The continuing saga of the coffee shop panorama!
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Last night I went to Big Horn Canyon
It’s right near the Montana/Wyoming border. I’ve never been there before, but wow, was it beautiful. I watched...
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I officially have a 2.1 degree in Classics :)
Saturn is Like an Antiques Shop, Cassini Suggests
A new analysis of data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft suggests that Saturn’s moons and rings are gently worn vintage goods from around the time of our solar system’s birth.
Though they are tinted on the surface from recent “pollution,” these bodies date back more than 4 billion years. They are from around the time that the planetary bodies in our neighborhood began to form out of the protoplanetary nebula, the cloud of material still orbiting the sun after its ignition as a star. The paper, led by Gianrico Filacchione, a Cassini participating scientist at Italy’s National Institute for Astrophysics, Rome, has just been published online by the Astrophysical Journal.
“Studying the Saturnian system helps us understand the chemical and physical evolution of our entire solar system,” said Filacchione. “We know now that understanding this evolution requires not just studying a single moon or ring, but piecing together the relationships intertwining these bodies.”Though they are tinted on the surface from recent “pollution,” these bodies date back more than 4 billion years. They are from around the time that the planetary bodies in our neighborhood began to form out of the protoplanetary nebula, the cloud of material still orbiting the sun after its ignition as a star. The paper, led by Gianrico Filacchione, a Cassini participating scientist at Italy’s National Institute for Astrophysics, Rome, has just been published online by the Astrophysical Journal.
Light from Many Paths
The unlit side of the rings glows with scattered sunlight as two moons circle giant Saturn. The light reaching Cassini in this view has traveled many paths before being captured.
At left, Mimas (397 kilometers, or 247 miles across) presents its dark side. Enceladus (505 kilometers, or 314 miles across), on the far side of the rings, is lit by “Saturnshine,” or reflected sunlight coming from the planet. Saturn, in turn, is faintly lit in the south by light reflecting off the rings.
Saturn’s shadow darkens the rings, tapering off toward the left side of this view.
Mimas Peeks Over Saturn
Saturn and its north polar hexagon dwarf Mimas as the moon peeks over the planet’s limb. Saturn’s A ring also makes an appearance on the far right. Mimas is 246 miles (396 kilometers) across.
This view looks toward the sunlit side of the rings from about 21 degrees above the ringplane. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Nov. 28, 2012 using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of near-infrared light centered at 752 nanometers.
Sunlight scatters through Saturn’s rings, emerging on the unilluminated side. Prometheus (102 kilometers, or 63 miles across, lower right) and Pandora (84 kilometers, or 52 miles across, upper left) are visible here, respectively internal and external to the narrow F ring.
This view looks toward the rings from about 17 degrees above the ringplane. The planet’s shadow darkens the rings near upper left.
Petite Pair Beyond Rings
Two of Saturn’s small moons can be seen orbiting beyond the planet’s thin F ring in this Cassini spacecraft image.
Pandora (81 kilometers, or 50 miles across) is on the left, and Epimetheus (113 kilometers, or 70 miles across) is on the right. This view looks toward the northern, sunlit side of the rings from just above the ringplane. Both moons are closer to Cassini than are the rings. Pandora is slightly closer to Cassini than Epimetheus here.
Saturn Colorization by Will Charbish on Flickr
Source images taken by the Cassini Spacecraft/NASA
Saturn’s north polar vortex (an animation)
Cassini took 14 images of Saturn’s north polar vortex on November 27, 2012 over a period of many hours as the planet rotated beneath it. The 14 images have been processed to remove the geometric effects of Cassini’s oblique viewpoint and of Saturn’s rotation, holding the outer bright ring of white clouds fixed. With these motions removed, you can see individual vortices rotating and shearing, and the central clouds rotating faster than the outer ones.
(via That amazing image of Saturn’s north pole just got better: now, it moves! | The Planetary Society)
Saturn’s North Polar Vortex
Seen by Cassini
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/raw/rawimagedetails/index.cfm?imageID=273987
Saturn casts a wide shadow across its rings in this Cassini spacecraft view which looks toward the darkened southern hemisphere of the night side of the planet.
Image sequence from the Cassini Orbiter
These two .gifs are of the same area on Saturn, at roughly the same time. How does Cassini do this? Two cameras? Nope. The probe snaps many photos in series, with a set interval between series. During each series of shots, as the camera exposes shots one after the other, using a different filter on the lens for each shot. This creates 3-4 “time lapse” videos of the same spot on Saturn, but at different wavelengths. This is useful to scientists studying the workings of Saturn’s atmosphere, since Different filters will highlight different gasses. I took this series of shots, divided them up by filter used, increased contrast and a few other things to highlight the differences. I was able to create a 9-frame time lapse gif of each filter.Raw Images Credit: NASA/JPL http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm
