| Ultimi arrivi - Saturn: the "Ringed Beauty" and His Moons |
Japetus-N00043073.jpgJapetus...in a very unusual "look"!66 visiteOriginal caption:"N00043073.jpg was taken on November 03, 2005 and received on Earth November 05, 2005. The camera was pointing toward Japetus at approximately 1.617.411 kilometers away, and the image was taken using the CL1 and CL2 filters. This image has not been validated or calibrated". Nov 17, 2005
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Pandora-PIA07632.jpgBeautiful Pandora (false colors)92 visiteCassini's best close-up view of Saturn's F-Ring shepherd moon, Pandora, shows that this small ring-moon is coated in fine dust-sized icy material.
Craters formed on this object by impacts appear to be covered by debris, a process that probably happens rapidly in a geologic sense. The grooves and small ridges on Pandora suggest that fractures affect the overlying smooth material. The crisp craters on another Saturn moon, Hyperion, provide a contrasting example of craters on a small object.
Cassini acquired infrared, green and ultraviolet images on Sept. 5, 2005, which were combined to create this false-color view. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera at a distance of approx. 52.000 Km from Pandora and at a phase angle of 54°. Resolution in the original image was about 300 mt per pixel".
Nota: un'immagine stupenda e spettacolare e poi, per i più attenti, come non notare l'incredibile somiglianza (troppo grande per essere casuale...) di questa luna con Phobos?Nov 17, 2005
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Japetus-N00043109.jpgGeodesic Japetus?56 visiteOriginal caption:"N00043109.jpg was taken on November 15, 2005 and received on Earth November 16, 2005. The camera was pointing toward Japetus at approximately 674.885 kilometers away, and the image was taken using the CL1 and CL2 filters. This image has not been validated or calibrated".
Nota: l'immagine, che mostra le cosiddette "star-trails" ed è quindi indice, assieme al bianco brillante della superficie illuminata di Giapeto, di una sostanziale sovraesposizione del frame, appare molto interessante soprattutto perchè ci consente di apprezzare bene la davvero particolare struttura del "disco" di Giapeto. Un disco-non disco, come aveva a suo tempo notato il Prof. Hoagland: una superficie non "smooth" (liscia) ed arrotondata, bensì squadrata, come fosse "scolpita", in qualche modo. E' evidente che la conclusione di Hoagland ("...Giapeto è una gigantesca nave spaziale...") rimane una boutade, ma l'assoluta peculiarità della forma - in termini globali - di questa luna lontana, resta un fatto.Nov 17, 2005
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The Rings-PIA07631.jpgThe sweet colors of the Rings (approx. true colors)55 visiteOrigThe dark Cassini Division, within Saturn's Rings, contains a great deal of structure, as seen in this color image. The sharp inner boundary of the division (left of center) is the outer edge of the massive B-Ring and is maintained by the gravitational influence of the moon Mimas.
Spectroscopic observations by Cassini indicate that the Cassini Division, similar to the C-Ring, contains more contaminated ice than do the B and A-Rings on either side.
This view is centered on a region approx. 118.500 Km (about 73.600 mi) from Saturn's center. (Saturn is about 120.500 Km wide - roughly 74.900 mi - at the equator.) From left to right, the image spans approx. 11.000 Km (about 6.800 mi) across the Ring-Plane. Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this view, which approximates what the human eye might see. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on May 18, 2005, at a distance of approx. 1,6 MKM (about 1 MMs) from Saturn. Res. is 9 Km per px.Nov 16, 2005
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Japetus-N00043065.jpgLand of night56 visiteOriginal caption:"N00043065.jpg was taken on November 14, 2005 and received on Earth November 15, 2005. The camera was pointing toward Japetus at approximately 554.430 Km away, and the image was taken using the P60 and MT2 filters. This image has not been validated or calibrated".
Nota: questa immagine ci offre, oltre ad una "inquietante" (e comunque davvero molto bella) veduta di Giapeto, anche un interessante ed assai variegato campionario di photographic artifacts (incluse anche alcune strisce di luce che vengono ufficialmente attribuite al transito di Raggi Cosmici).Nov 16, 2005
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Dione in 3D.gifDione in 3D58 visitenessun commentoNov 15, 2005
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Dione&Tethys-PIA07630.jpgThe Eternal Companions55 visiteOriginal caption:"The moons Dione and Tethys face each other across the gulf of Saturn's Rings. Here, the Cassini spacecraft looks on the Saturn-facing Hemisphere of Tethys below and the anti-Saturn side of Dione above. The dark groove in the Rings is the Cassini Division.
This image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Sept. 22, 2005, at a distance of approximately 860.000 Km (about 530.000 miles) from Dione. Tethys was on the far side of the rings, 1,5 MKM (roughly 900.000 miles) from Cassini. The image scale is 5 Km (about 3 miles) per pixel on Dione and 9 Km (about 6 miles) per pixel on Tethys".Nov 15, 2005
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Mimas-N00042871.jpgMimas and Titan56 visiteOriginal caption:"N00042871.jpg was taken on November 11, 2005 and received on Earth November 11, 2005. The camera was pointing toward Mimas (and Titan) at approximately 3.224.642 Km away, and the image was taken using the CL1 and CL2 filters".Nov 12, 2005
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Japetus-N00042868.jpgApproaching Japetus (over-exposed)59 visiteOriginal caption:"N00042868.jpg was taken on November 11, 2005 and received on Earth November 11, 2005. The camera was pointing toward Japetus at approx. 480.167 Km away, and the image was taken using the CL1 and CL2 filters".
Nota: una stella si "allunga" (non si tratta di un raggio cosmico nè di un UFO in transito) e Giapeto, da nero o quasi, diventa di un bel color bianco brillante. Alcuni dettagli emergono dall'oscurità, altri annegano nella luce.
Ma non c'è nessun mistero: questi particolari sono solo i segni evidenti di un'immagine ottenuta allungando i tempi di esposizione.Nov 12, 2005
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Japetus-N00042866.jpgApproaching Japetus59 visiteOriginal caption:"N00042866.jpg was taken on Nov. 11, 2005 and received on Earth Nov. 11, 2005. The camera was pointing toward Japetus at approx. 480.263 Km away and the image was taken using the CL1 and GRN filters".
Purtroppo, alla fine di questo passaggio (solo relativamente) ravvicinato, non avremo la possibilità di scrutare ancora nelle valli e dentro i crepacci di questa luna divisa a metà: una metà che ci ricorda, in tutto e per tutte, le altre lune del Sistema di Saturno ed i corpi celesti rocciosi "tipici" dello Spazio Esterno (o trans-Marziano). Un'altra metà, invece, completamente aliena, diversa e difficile da spiegare: una metà di Giapeto, infatti, è nera. Che si tratti di depositi di polveri è solo una speculazione e qualora si trattasse effettivamente di polveri, verrebbe naturale domandarsi "da dove" queste polveri provengano.
Ciò che sappiamo, oggi, è che Giapeto è un Corpo Celeste "bifronte" e, forse, dalla doppia natura: tutto il resto (e che NASA ed ESA ci perdonino) è "jargon"...Nov 12, 2005
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Dione&Co.-PIA07628.jpgDione, Tethys and Pandora59 visiteOriginal caption:"This excellent grouping of 3 moons - Dione, Tethys and Pandora - near the Rings, provides a sampling of the diversity of worlds that exists in Saturn's Realm. A 330-Km-wide (about 205 miles) impact basin can be seen near the bottom right on Dione (at left). Ithaca Chasma and the Region imaged during the Cassini spacecraft¿s Sept. 24, 2005, flyby can be seen on Tethys (middle). Little Pandora makes a good showing here as well, displaying a hint of surface detail. Tethys is on the far side of the Rings in this view; Dione and Pandora are much nearer to the Cassini spacecraft.
Rememeber that Dione is approx. 1.126 Km (about 700 miles) across. Tethys is approx. 1.071 Km (about 665 miles) across and Pandora is 84 Km (roughly 52 miles) across.
This image was taken in visible blue light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Sept. 22, 2005, at a distance of approx. 1,2 MKM (about 800.000 miles) from Saturn. The image scale is about 5 Km (approx. 3 miles) per pixel on Dione and Pandora and 9 kilometers (6 miles) per pixel on Tethys".Nov 11, 2005
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Japetus-N00042846.jpgApproaching Japetus56 visiteOriginal caption:"N00042846.jpg was taken on November 09, 2005 and received on Earth November 10, 2005. The camera was pointing toward Japetus at approx. 639.972 Km away, and the image was taken using the IR2 and CL2 filters. This image has not been validated or calibrated".Nov 11, 2005
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