Topic: Cassini-Huygens at Saturn: Questions, comments
DChudwin Member
Posts: 1096 From: Lincolnshire IL USA Registered: Aug 2000
posted 07-26-2009 12:53 PM
The Cassini imaging team has released a new image of Saturn's largest moon Titan showing the highlands areas.
DChudwin Member
Posts: 1096 From: Lincolnshire IL USA Registered: Aug 2000
posted 08-13-2009 09:55 PM
A once in every 15 years event happened Aug. 11 -- equinox on Saturn. When this occurs the sun angle is the same as the ring plane resulting in unusual illumination and shadows. Some of the first pictures from Cassini showing this phenomenon can be found here.
DChudwin Member
Posts: 1096 From: Lincolnshire IL USA Registered: Aug 2000
posted 08-27-2009 09:25 PM
The Cassini imaging team led by Dr. Carolyn Porco continues to regularly release spectacular photographs of the ringed planet taken by the Cassini spacecraft. This one shows shadows on the ring system by Saturn itself and one of its moons.
tegwilym Member
Posts: 2331 From: Sturgeon Bay, WI Registered: Jan 2000
posted 09-22-2009 05:34 PM
I think that Saturn image is my favorite one yet, that is just so very cool. But then again, next month another really great shot will come back that I'll just say is my favorite.
Although, Phoenix on the parachute taken by the MRO is still the image to beat!
DChudwin Member
Posts: 1096 From: Lincolnshire IL USA Registered: Aug 2000
posted 10-15-2009 10:43 PM
There is a spectacular new view of the plumes emanating from Saturn's moon Enceladus in this new raw image released recently.
gliderpilotuk Member
Posts: 3398 From: London, UK Registered: Feb 2002
posted 10-18-2009 03:14 AM
quote:Originally posted by tegwilym: Although, Phoenix on the parachute taken by the MRO is still the image to beat!
I second that!
DChudwin Member
Posts: 1096 From: Lincolnshire IL USA Registered: Aug 2000
posted 10-30-2009 02:35 PM
CICLOPS has released another beautiful natural color image of Saturn and the rings taken after the equinox. Mimas can also be seen. These images never fail to astound me, considering how far Cassini is from Earth and how long it has been orbiting the Saturn system.
DChudwin Member
Posts: 1096 From: Lincolnshire IL USA Registered: Aug 2000
posted 11-03-2009 07:15 PM
Cassini flew within 60 miles of Saturn's moon Enceladus yesterday (Nov. 2). The first raw images show the cracked, icy surface of the moon and the gigantic plumes going into space containing water. I am in awe of the wonders of the Saturnian system revealed in great detail by Cassini-- from Saturn's rings to the methane lakes of Titan to water ice on Enceladus.
DChudwin Member
Posts: 1096 From: Lincolnshire IL USA Registered: Aug 2000
posted 11-20-2009 02:11 PM
NASA has fascinating new imagery of the moons of Saturn including this shot of Rhea in front of Titan.
Posts: 2331 From: Sturgeon Bay, WI Registered: Jan 2000
posted 11-22-2009 01:13 PM
No comments here yet on this? I'll be the first then! You gotta check out the latest images from Cassini from the low pass over the geysers the other day.
Very cool!
gliderpilotuk Member
Posts: 3398 From: London, UK Registered: Feb 2002
posted 11-23-2009 03:52 PM
Probably everyone's speechless, Tom. I'm running out of superlatives for this mission.
tegwilym Member
Posts: 2331 From: Sturgeon Bay, WI Registered: Jan 2000
posted 11-23-2009 04:36 PM
quote:Originally posted by gliderpilotuk: Probably everyone's speechless, Tom. I'm running out of superlatives for this mission.
Ha! Yeah I know the feeling. I stopped breathing for a while when I saw those geysers....and that was after falling out of my chair and picking myself up from under my desk.
Blackarrow Member
Posts: 3120 From: Belfast, United Kingdom Registered: Feb 2002
posted 11-23-2009 05:08 PM
My jaw is also hanging down against my knees. Looking at "Raw Previews 3 and 4", I want to know whether those are geysers errupting from dark unlit areas into sunlight, or whether the bright smudges that look like erruptions are just after-images or camera-artifacts from earlier images. Any thoughts?
ilbasso Member
Posts: 1522 From: Greensboro, NC USA Registered: Feb 2006
posted 11-24-2009 12:04 PM
Those are indeed geysers erupting from just past the terminator. Visit this thread at unmannedspaceflight.com, click on the embedded photo, and you'll see an map-projected animation that aligns the night-side plumes with some of the previously-seen "tiger stripes" on Enceladus.
DChudwin Member
Posts: 1096 From: Lincolnshire IL USA Registered: Aug 2000
posted 12-13-2009 11:20 AM
This weekend Cassini has another encounter with Titan, Saturn's largest moon. This raw image shows some surface detail taken when Cassini was 95,000 km from Titan.
DChudwin Member
Posts: 1096 From: Lincolnshire IL USA Registered: Aug 2000
posted 12-18-2009 08:15 PM
Check out this latest incredible Cassini picture of Titan -- sunlight glinting off a methane lake.
SpaceAholic Member
Posts: 4437 From: Sierra Vista, Arizona Registered: Nov 1999
posted 12-24-2009 04:29 PM
JPL has released a movie of Saturn's moon's compiled from Cassini images entitled Saturn Moon Ballet and scripted to the NutCracker Suite.
tegwilym Member
Posts: 2331 From: Sturgeon Bay, WI Registered: Jan 2000
posted 12-28-2009 02:27 PM
Nice! I'm adding that video to show at tomorrow night's astronomy club meeting.
DChudwin Member
Posts: 1096 From: Lincolnshire IL USA Registered: Aug 2000
posted 01-29-2010 06:48 PM
Here is a new computer animation of the topography of Titan from the talented bloggers at unmannedspaceflight.com.
There are also new raw images of Prometheus, one of Saturn's smaller moons.
cspg Member
Posts: 6210 From: Geneva, Switzerland Registered: May 2006
posted 02-15-2010 07:20 AM
After the beautiful STS-130 photo of Endeavour across Earth's limb, this photo of Saturn is just as beautiful, Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) for Feb. 15.
DChudwin Member
Posts: 1096 From: Lincolnshire IL USA Registered: Aug 2000
posted 03-06-2010 03:08 PM
The Cassini spacecraft made its closest approach to Rhea, Saturn's second largest moon, flying just 100 km above the cracked and cratered surface on March 2. The raw images are now available.
Cassini also flew near the small moon Helene the next day.
DChudwin Member
Posts: 1096 From: Lincolnshire IL USA Registered: Aug 2000
posted 03-29-2010 09:23 PM
The CICLOPS site features some new images of Saturn's moon Mimas, the so-called "Death Star" moon with the huge crater Herschel. The pictures include a mosaic of entire moon in greater detail than previously available and close-up images of Herschel, in color and 3-D.
DChudwin Member
Posts: 1096 From: Lincolnshire IL USA Registered: Aug 2000
posted 04-10-2010 05:49 PM
On April 7, Cassini made a very close approach to Saturn's moon Dione. The spacecraft sent back some amazing pictures from as close as 1,000 miles to the frozen moon.
DChudwin Member
Posts: 1096 From: Lincolnshire IL USA Registered: Aug 2000
posted 05-20-2010 09:11 PM
Cassini made another flyby of Enceladus on May 18. The spacecraft sent back images of the moon's cracked surface and some spectacular views of the giant water plumes (or geysers) emanating from the polar regions.
In my opinion, these water plumes from Enceladus and the volcanoes of Jupiter's moon Io are some of the strangest phenomenon of the outer planets.
DChudwin Member
Posts: 1096 From: Lincolnshire IL USA Registered: Aug 2000
posted 05-22-2010 07:27 PM
The Boston Globe's Big Picture on May 21 featured some of the best images taken by Cassini of Saturn and its moons. It's great to see some publicity for these magnificent photos in a general interest publication.
MCroft04 Member
Posts: 1634 From: Smithfield, Me, USA Registered: Mar 2005
posted 05-22-2010 07:56 PM
Dave, Thanks for the link. Spectacular!
cspg Member
Posts: 6210 From: Geneva, Switzerland Registered: May 2006
posted 05-23-2010 12:01 AM
Space shuttle missions generate stunning pictures but none match those by Cassini. Truly amazing.
Send more probes and rovers!
Scott Member
Posts: 3307 From: Houston, TX Registered: May 2001
posted 05-23-2010 08:54 AM
Amazing and beautiful!
DChudwin Member
Posts: 1096 From: Lincolnshire IL USA Registered: Aug 2000
posted 08-17-2010 08:21 PM
The Cassini spacecraft has just completed close fly-bys of Saturn's moons Dione, Tethys and Enceladus. There are some spectacular close up views of the sources of the geysers emanating from Enceladus, as well as the craters on Tethys. The raw photos can be found here.
DChudwin Member
Posts: 1096 From: Lincolnshire IL USA Registered: Aug 2000
posted 09-03-2010 07:30 PM
This spectacular video shows the prominent equatorial ridge on Saturn's moon Iapetus. The ridge, Valterne Mons, is about 20 km wide and an amazing 18 km high. The images were obtained from the Cassini spacecraft as it orbits Saturn in its extended mission.
DChudwin Member
Posts: 1096 From: Lincolnshire IL USA Registered: Aug 2000
posted 09-10-2010 10:16 PM
NASA has released pictures of Cassini's September 3 flyby of Dione, one of Saturn's icy moons. There are some good pictures of the icy high canyon walls which give a wispy appearance to Dione when viewed from far away.
DChudwin Member
Posts: 1096 From: Lincolnshire IL USA Registered: Aug 2000
posted 10-19-2010 07:39 PM
Cassini flew by several of Saturn's moons during a pass last week (October 14-17). The spacecraft sent back some great close-up views of Rhea and Dione, passing within 14,000 miles. Some of the raw pictures can be found here.
NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which has been orbiting the Saturnian system since 2004, detected the oxygen atmosphere around Rhea during a close flyby of the icy moon in March.
Cassini's data show that molecular oxygen (O2) forms inside the moon's surface ice when water molecules (H2O) are split by energetic ions, a process known as radiolysis. The oxygen then gets ejected from the surface ice and captured by Rhea's gravity to form the atmosphere.
"A loose analogy might be carbon dioxide dissolved, or trapped, in a carbonated beverage, except here we are not talking about liquid water but rather frozen ice at extremely low temperatures," Teolis said.
DChudwin Member
Posts: 1096 From: Lincolnshire IL USA Registered: Aug 2000
posted 11-30-2010 08:51 PM
Cassini is functioning again, and just flew by Saturn's "sponge moon" Hyperion. A flyby movie made from 61 still frames:
DChudwin Member
Posts: 1096 From: Lincolnshire IL USA Registered: Aug 2000
posted 12-06-2010 09:25 PM
The CICLOPS website has six new images of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus taken Nov. 30 by the orbiting Cassini on a pass as low as 50 km above the surface. Two of the pictures show the eerie water geysers emanating from Enceladus' south polar region.
DChudwin Member
Posts: 1096 From: Lincolnshire IL USA Registered: Aug 2000
posted 12-21-2010 07:44 PM
Two treats posted by the Cassini imaging team today.
First, preview shots of Cassini's flyby 50 km over Enceladus' northern hemisphere on Dec. 20-21. Some of the images show the water geysers spewing into space from the icy moon's south polar regions.
Second, the CICLOPS team has posted highly detailed processed images of Rhea. One of these shows in 3D the fractured topography of the moon.
CICLOPS, headed by Dr. Carolyn Porco, has done an outstanding job of processing the millions of images Cassini has sent back in its exploration in orbit around Saturn. Nature's beauty at its best!
DChudwin Member
Posts: 1096 From: Lincolnshire IL USA Registered: Aug 2000
posted 01-13-2011 08:53 PM
Cassini flew by Saturn's moon Rhea on Jan. 11, returning closeup pictures of the cratered surface as well as panorama views of Rhea and some of Saturn's other moons.
gliderpilotuk Member
Posts: 3398 From: London, UK Registered: Feb 2002
posted 01-14-2011 03:55 AM
Just amazing. The "Five Moon" shot is spectacular. We're seeing images that until recently only a sci-fi author could speculate on.
DChudwin Member
Posts: 1096 From: Lincolnshire IL USA Registered: Aug 2000
posted 02-04-2011 03:59 PM
NASA has released findings that show that Titan has water-containing cirrus clouds, as well as the more ubiquitous hydrocarbon clouds.
Posts: 1096 From: Lincolnshire IL USA Registered: Aug 2000
posted 03-13-2011 07:59 AM
An incredible animation of Cassini flying around Saturn and through its rings can be found here.
The animation is made from thousands of actual still pictures taken by the spacecraft. There are several sequences but the color one towards the end is the most spectacular.
Topic Closed
posted 07-26-2009 12:53 PM
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