Saturn: the "Ringed Beauty" and His Moons
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Sky-W00047013.jpg"?"54 visitenessun commentoMareKromium
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Sky-W00047012.jpg"?"87 visiteUn ovvio tentativo di messa a fuoco, riuscito proprio male, su un oggetto particolarmente luminoso (riteniamo che si tratti di una delle maggiori lune di Saturno). Comunque un'immagine intrigante ed interessante.MareKromium
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Rings-PIA03556.jpg"Clumps" in the A-Ring55 visiteOriginal NASA caption:"The left image is a false-color view of Saturn's A-Ring from the Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph aboard Cassini.
The A-Ring is the bluest in the center, where the gravitational clumps are the largest. The thickest black band in the Ring is the "Encke-Gap" while the thin black band further to the right is the "Keeler-Gap".
The right image is a computer simulation about 150 mt (about 490 feet) across illustrating a "clumpy region" of particles in the A-Ring. And, there and that is the 'real surprise'...The particles are moving counterclockwise, from bottom to top!".
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Prometheus-N00041980.jpg"Family Group": Prometheus, Dione and Titan53 visiteOriginal caption:"N00041980.jpg was taken on October 17, 2005 and received on Earth October 18, 2005. The camera was pointing toward PROMETHEUS - approximately 2.358.256 Km away - and the image was taken using the CL1 and CL2 filters. This image has not been validated or calibrated".
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Saturn-PIA08242.jpg"Flat and Ringless" Saturn...54 visiteCaption NASA originale:"Saturn's low density and fast rotation combine to give it its characteristic oblate shape. The dramatic crescent seen here demonstrates how the Ringed Planet is much wider at the equator than at the poles.
The Rings (seem to) disappear near the center into the darkness of the Planet's shadow.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on July 11, 2006 at a distance of approx. 2,9 MKM (such as about 1,8 MMs) from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 163°.
Image scale is approx. 169 Km (about 105 miles) per pixel".
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Hyperion-PIA07768.jpg"Meri Crater"53 visiteSaturn's moon Hyperion's crater, Meri, blooms in this extreme color-enhanced view. Meri is overprinted by a couple of smaller craters and displays dark material on its floor that is characteristic of many impact sites on this moon. The walls of craters seen here are noticeably smoother on their sloping sides than around their craggy rims.
To create this false-color view, ultraviolet, green and infrared images were combined into a single black and white picture that isolates and maps regional color differences. This "color map" was then superimposed over a clear-filter image. The combination of color map and brightness image shows how the colors vary across the moon's surface in relation to geologic features.
The origin of the color differences is not yet understood, but may be caused by subtle differences in the surface composition or the sizes of grains making up the icy soil. The images used to create this false-color view were acquired on 09-26-2005, at a mean distance of 17.900 Km from Hyperion. Image scale is about 110 meters (360 feet) per pixel.
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Mimas-PIA11642.jpg"Oblate" Mimas (Possible Natural Colors; credits: Lunexit)53 visiteCaption NASA:"The Cassini Spacecraft reveals the cratered surface of Mimas, a moon whose shape is flattened at the Poles. (see PIA07534 to learn more about why the moon has this oblate shape)
This view looks toward the Trailing Hemisphere of Mimas (approx. 396 Km, or about 246 miles, across). North on Mimas is up and rotated 1° to the left.
The image was taken in Visible Green Light with the Cassini Spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Oct. 14, 2009. The view was acquired at a distance of approx. 273.000 Km (such as about 170.000 miles) from Mimas and at a Sun-Mimas-Spacecraft, or Phase, Angle of 5°.
Image scale is roughly 2 Km (about 1,4 miles) per pixel".MareKromium
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The Rings-PIA08255.jpg"Penumbral fade" on Saturn's Rings53 visiteCaption NASA:"As the particles comprising Saturn's A-Ring slip into the Planet's shadow, they find themselves briefly in the penumbra of Saturn's shadow. In this very narrow region along the edge of the shadow, part (but not all) of the Sun is still visible around the side of the Planet, creating only a partial shadow there and making the shadow edge look fuzzy.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on July 26, 2006 at a distance of approx. 1,5 MKM (such as about 900.000 miles) from Saturn. Image scale is roughly 9 Km (about 5 miles) per pixel".
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Mimas-PIA06591.jpg"Phase-locked" Mimas!52 visiteCaption NASA originale:"Cassini's ability to remain precisely and steadily pointed at targets, such as Saturn's moon Mimas (seen here) yields sharp images despite the relatively high speed at which the spacecraft moves.
Cassini was traveling at more than 13 Km per second when it acquired this view, which shows crisp detail on Mimas against the backdrop of Saturn's Northern Hemisphere. Shadows of the icy rings stretch across the atmosphere and appear to be blurred because of the spacecraft motion.
The part of Mimas visible here always faces away from Saturn as the moon orbits the Gas Giant. In scientific language (jargon...), Mimas is said to be "phase-locked".
The image has been rotated so that North on Mimas (and Saturn) is up. This view was obtained with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera on Jan. 18, 2005, at a distance of approx. 1,25 MKM from Mimas and at a phase angle of 114°. The image was taken using filters sensitive to wavelengths of infrared and polarized light. Res. is 7 Km/pixel".
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Saturn from HST-PIA01272_modest.jpg"Ringless Saturn" from Hubble Space Telescope (1998)53 visiteCaption NASA originale:"TOP - This is a NASA Hubble Space Telescope snapshot of Saturn with its rings barely visible. Normally, astronomers see Saturn with its rings tilted. Earth was almost in the plane of Saturn's rings, thus the rings appear edge-on. BOTTOM - This photograph shows Saturn with its rings slightly tilted. The moon called Dione, on the lower right, is casting a long, thin shadow across the whole ring system due to the setting Sun on the ring plane. The moon on the upper left of Saturn is Tethys".
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MimasandPrometheus-N00121924-N00121943.gif"Space Runners" (GIF-Movie; credits: Dr G. Barca)53 visitenessun commentoMareKromium
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The_Rings-PIA10408.jpg"Spiral Density Wave" in the B-Ring (MULTISPECTRUM; credits: Lunexit)77 visiteCaption NASA:"This High-Resolution view shows, at left, a Spiral Density Wave (SDW) in Saturn's inner B-Ring. A SDW is a spiral-shaped massing of particles that tightly winds many times around the Planet. These waves decrease in wavelength with increasing distance from the Planet.
Scientists use images like this one to understand the mass of the Rings and the collisional dynamics of the Ring Particles.
The view looks toward the sunlit side of the Rings from about 50° below the Ring-Plane. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini Spacecraft narrow-angle camera on May 10, 2008. The view was obtained at a distance of approx. 279.000 Km (sich as about 173.000 miles) from Saturn.
Image scale is roughly 1 Km (0,6 mile) per pixel".MareKromium
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