| Ultimi arrivi - Titan: The "Foggy" Moon |
Titan-PIA09846-PCF-LXTT-IPF.jpgTitanian Clouds and Surface Features (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)66 visiteA bright streak of whitish Clouds graces the Northern Skies of the Saturnian moon Titan and this was the second time that the NASA - Cassini Spacecraft's imaging cameras spotted clouds at apporx. 60° of North Latitude (the previous occasion occurred during the observations that were carried out in the month of February of the AD 2007: observations which also led the cameras of the Spacecraft to spot the Dark Lakes - likely filled by Liquid Hydrocarbons - that cover much of the Northern Regions of this fascinating moon). The almost circular, and approx. 400-Kilometer wide Impact Crater Menrva can be seen near center, a little to the left of the Terminator. North on Titan (which, we remind you, is approx. 5150 Km - such about 3200 miles across) is up and rotated 26° to the right.
The image was taken with the NASA - Cassini Spacecraft Narrow-Angle Camera on January 20, 2008, using a combination of Spectral Filters sensitive to Wavelengths of Polarized InfraRed Light centered at 938 and 746 nanometers. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 1,3 MKM (---> Million KiloMeters), such as about 800.000 miles from Titan and at a Sun-Titan-Spacecraft, or Phase, Angle of 58°. Image scale is roughly 8 Km (a little more than 5 miles) per pixel. However, it has to be noted that, due to the scattering of light that is caused by the Titanian Hazy Atmosphere, the size of the Surface Features that can be seen and resolved, is a few times larger than the actual (and aforementioned) pixel scale.
This frame (which is an Original NASA - Cassini Spacecraft image published on the NASA - Planetary Photojournal with the ID n. PIA 09846) has been additionally processed and then colorized in Absolute Natural Colors (such as the colors that a human eye would actually perceive if someone were onboard the NASA - Cassini Spacecraft and then looked outside, towards the Saturnian moon Titan), by using an original technique created - and, in time, dramatically improved - by the Lunar Explorer Italia Team. Different colors, as well as different shades of the same color, mean, among others, the existence of different Elements present in the Atmosphere and Surface - where visible - of Titan, each having a different Albedo (---> Reflectivity) and Chemical Composition.
MareKromiumOtt 14, 2012
|
|
Titan-MF-EB-LXTT-03.jpgThe Titanian "South Polar Vortex" is still going on! (Superdefinition and Enhanced Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Elisabetta Bonora and Marco Faccin /Lunar Explorer Italia/IPF)93 visitenessun commentoMareKromiumOtt 13, 2012
|
|
Titan-PIA14919.jpgTitan's South Polar Vortex (True Colors; credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute)74 visiteCaption NASA:"This frame (taken by the NASA - Cassini Spacecraft) shows us a South Polar Vortex or, in other words, a swirling Mass of Gas (and, perhaps, even other - heavier - Elements), which is located in the Upper Atmosphere, and approximately over the South Pole, of the Saturnian moon Titan. This Swirling Mass appears to complete one full rotation in about 9 (nine) hours - meaning a much faster period than the moon's 16 (sixteen)-days Rotation Period. The South Pole of Titan (which is about 3200 miles, or 5150 Km, across) is right under the Vortex.
Since the NASA - Cassini Spacecraft arrived in the Saturnian System, in 2004, Titan has shown a visible "Hood", such as an area of denser (when compared to the rest of the moon's Atmosphere) High Altitude Haze, high above the North Pole, but this is the first time that a similar phenomenon is seen above its South Pole. As a matter of fact, it was Northern Winter on Titan at the time of the arrival of the Cassini Spacecraft, and therefore much of its High Northern Latitudes was then in the darkness. But the Hood was high enough to still be illuminated by Sunlight. However, seasons have been changing since Saturn's August 2009 Equinox, which signaled the beginning of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere and the start of Fall (---> Autumn) in the Southern one, both for Saturn and for its very many moons. As a consequence of this season's changing, now the High Southern Latitudes are the ones moving into darkness, and the formation of this Vortex at Titan's South Pole may be related to the incoming Southern Winter and - maybe - the subsequent beginning of what could well be a South Polar Hood.
These new, more detailed images are only possible because of the NASA - Cassini Spacecraft newly inclined orbits, whose re-definition is part of the next phase of the Cassini Solstice Mission. Previously, Cassini was orbiting along the Equatorial Plane of Titan, and so the imaging team's pictures of the Polar Vortex (in the period between late March and mid-May), were taken from over Titan's Equator. At that time, however, the images taken by the Spacecraft only showed a brightening (or yellowing) of the detached Haze Layer located on the Limb (or Edge) of the Visible Disk of Titan, right over its South Polar Regions".MareKromiumAgo 16, 2012
|
|
Titan-MF-EB-LXTT-02.jpgNot an Aurora! (a GIF-Movie by Elisabetta Bonora and Marco Faccin - Lunar Explorer Italia/IPF)69 visiteUn suggerimento: mentre osservate la "nuvola" (quale che ne sia la natura) che ruota lentamente attorno al Polo Sud di Titano, provate a guardare anche il bordo (---> limb) del Corpo Celeste in oggetto e, in particolare, osservate le variazioni (a nostro parere eclatanti) della sua Coltre Atmosferica Alta. Potrebbe esistere una correlazione tra simili variazioni e l'Evento Anomalo Sud-Polare? Oppure le variazioni di consistenza, texture e luminosità della Coltre Atmosferica Alta di Titano sono solo un effetto ottico derivante dal cambio di Angolo di Fase (e cioè l'Angolo esitente tra il Sole, Titano e la Sonda CASSINI) ed evidenziato in forma curiosamente eclatante dal montaggio dei diversi frames che vanno a comporre il filmato GIF? Domande, domande, domande.....MareKromiumLug 01, 2012
|
|
Titan-MF-EB-LXTT-01.jpgNot an Aurora! (False Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Elisabetta Bonora and Marco Faccin - Lunar Explorer Italia/IPF)72 visiteDall'ingrandimento del dettaglio controverso (frame superiore) non è possibile ricavare alcuna certezza, se non che il Fenomeno (probabilmente) Atmosferico che interessa le estreme Regioni Sud-Polari di Titano è soggetto a rapidi cambiamenti nel tempo. La sua forma, poi (decisamente irregolare), ci spinge a preferire - diremmo in via definitiva - l'ipotesi transitoria e meteorologica per quanto attiene la natura del Fenomeno in questione (i.e.: nuvola, super-nuvola, nuvola semi-permanente o colonnare da post-impatto che sia).MareKromiumLug 01, 2012
|
|
Titan-MF-EB-LXTT-00.jpgNot an Aurora! (Extremely Enhanced Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Elisabetta Bonora and Marco Faccin - Lunar Explorer Italia/IPF)75 visiteL'ipotesi "Aurorale" del bizzarro Fenomeno occorso alle estreme Latitudini Sud di Titano è tramontata. Nuove ipotesi? Diciamo questo: accanto a quelle "classiche" (e cioè 1) nube alta di gas "pesanti" e 2) "nuvola colonnare" derivante da un impatto meteorico) ce ne potrebbe essere un'altra. Si potrebbe trattare, a nostro parere, di un Fenomeno Meteorologico Ciclico, collegato al verificarsi di una specifica configurazione spaziale tra Sole, Saturno e Titano. Nulla di esotico, sia chiaro: solo una particolare configurazione di "fase" che, da un lato, consente la creazione "fisica", su Titano, di una formazione nuvolosa semi-permanente e, dall'altro, consente la individuazione "ottica" della nuvola stessa (ovviamente a condizione di avere uno strumento "in loco" o quasi...). Pensiamoci sopra...MareKromiumLug 01, 2012
|
|
Titan-W00074172-79-MF-EB-LXTT-IPF-3.jpgPossible Aurora at Titan (an Image-Mosaic by Elisabetta Bonora and Marco Faccin/Lunexit Team)137 visitenessun commentoMareKromiumMag 30, 2012
|
|
Titan-N00188978-86-MF-EB-LXTT-IPF-2.jpgPossible Aurora at Titan (Superdefinition and Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Elisabetta Bonora and Marco Faccin/Lunexit Team)81 visitenessun commentoMareKromiumMag 30, 2012
|
|
Titan-W00074172-79-CB3Filter-MF-EB-LXTT-IPF.jpgFull Titan (Superdefinition and Enhanced Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Elisabetta Bonora and Marco Faccin/Lunexit Team)76 visitenessun commentoMareKromiumMag 30, 2012
|
|
Titan-N00188978-86-MF-EB-LXTT-IPF-1.jpgPossible Aurora at Titan (Superdefinition; credits for the additional process. and color.: Elisabetta Bonora and Marco Faccin/Lunexit Team)78 visitenessun commentoMareKromiumMag 30, 2012
|
|
Titan-MF-EB-LXTT-IPF.jpgThe Atmosphere of Titan (an Image-Mosaic by Elisabetta Bonora and Marco Faccin - Lunexit Team)131 visitenessun commentoMareKromiumMag 20, 2012
|
|
Titan-PIA14602.jpgTitan (Natural Colors; credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute)95 visiteCaption NASA:"Titan's Atmosphere makes Saturn's largest moon look like a 'fuzzy orange ball' in this Natural Color view from the Cassini Spacecraft. Titan's North Polar Hood is visible at the top of the image, and a faint blueish Haze also can be detected above the South Pole at the bottom of this view. Recent Cassini images suggest Titan's North Polar Vortex, or 'Hood', is beginning to flip from North to South (see PIA14913). This view looks toward the Anti-Saturn Side of Titan. North is up.
Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this Natural Color view. The images were obtained with the Cassini Spacecraft wide-angle camera on Jan. 30, 2012 at a distance of approximately 119.000 miles (about 191.000 Km) from Titan. Image scale is roughly 7 miles (about 11 Km) per pixel".MareKromiumApr 08, 2012
|
|
| 426 immagini su 36 pagina(e) |
 |
3 | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
