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| Ultimi arrivi - Neptune and His Moons |
Triton-PIA01537_modest.jpgGeologic processes on Triton (1)55 visiteCaption NASA originale:"This image of Triton was taken from a distance of about 130.000 Km (80.000 miles) at 12:20 a.m. PDT Aug. 25 1989. The image was received at JPL four hours later at about 4:20 a.m. The smallest detail that can be seen is about 2,5 Km (or 1,5 miles) across. The long linear feature extending vertically across the image is probably a graben (a narrow down dropped fault block) about 35 Km (20 miles) across. The ridge in the center of the graben probably is ice that has welled up by plastic flow in the floor of the graben. The surrounding terrain is a relatively young icy surface with few impact craters".Gen 13, 2005
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Triton-PIA01538_modest.jpgGeologic processes on Triton (2)55 visiteCaption NASA originale:"Part of the complex geologic history of icy Triton, Neptune's largest satellite, is shown in this Voyager 2 photo, which has a resolution of 900 meters (2.700 feet) per picture element. The photo was received as part of a Triton-mapping sequence between 3:30 and 5:30 a.m. (PDT). This view is about 500 Km (300 miles) across.
It encompasses 2 depressions, possibly old impact basins, that have been extensively modified by flooding, melting, faulting and collapse. Several episodes of filling and partial removal of material appear to have occurred. The rough area in the middle of the bottom depression probably marks the most recent eruption of material. Only a few impact craters dot the area, which shows the dominance of internally driven geologic processes on Triton".Gen 13, 2005
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Triton-PIA01536_modest.jpgTriton (through green, violet and ultraviolet filters)57 visiteCaption NASA originale:"This color photo of Neptune's large satellite Triton was obtained on Aug. 24 1989 at a range of 530.000 Km (or 330.000 miles). The resolution is about 10 Km (6,2 miles), sufficient to begin to show topographic detail. The image was made from pictures taken through the green, violet and ultraviolet filters. In this technique, regions that are highly reflective in the ultraviolet appear blue in color. In reality, there is no part of Triton that would appear blue to the eye. The bright southern hemisphere of Triton, which fills most of this frame, is generally pink in tone as is the even brighter equatorial band. The darker regions north of the equator also tend to be pink or reddish in color".Gen 13, 2005
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s Rings-PIA02207_modest.jpgNeptune's Rings (and a crescent Neptune) from 1,1 MKM55 visiteCaption NASA originale:"This wide-angle Voyager 2 image, taken through the camera's clear filter, is the first to show Neptune's rings in detail. The 2 main rings, about 53.000 Km and 63.000 Km from Neptune, are 5 to 10 times brighter than in earlier images and the difference is due to lighting and viewing geometry. In approach images, the rings were seen in light scattered backward toward the spacecraft at a 15° phase angle. However, this image was taken at a 135° phase angle as Voyager 2 left the planet. That geometry is ideal for detecting microscopic particles that forward-scatter light preferentially. The fact that Neptune's Rings are so much brighter at that angle means the particle-size distribution is quite different from most of Uranus' and Saturn's rings, which contain fewer dust-size grains. However, a few components of the Saturnian and Uranian ring systems exhibit forward-scattering behavior: the F-Ring and the Encke Gap ringlet at Saturn, and 1986U1R at Uranus".Gen 13, 2005
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Triton-PIA02246_modest.jpgTriton from Voyager 2 (real colors)56 visiteCaption NASA originale:"Features as small as 100 Km across can be seen in this color image of Neptune's satellite Triton, photographed by Voyager 2 on Aug. 20, 1989, while it was still 5.4 MKM (3.3 million miles) from Neptune. Triton's overall pinkish color may be due to reddish materials produced by irradiation of methane gas and ice on the satellite. The dark areas near the top of the image seem to be part of a belt of dark markings observed near Triton's equator at different longitudes. Generally, darker areas on Triton appear to be somewhat redder in color than brighter areas. The central longitude in the image is 123°. Here the south pole is at about 6 o'clock, approximately one sixth of the way up from the bottom. The color image was made from three black and white frames, taken through clear, violet and green filters".Gen 13, 2005
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Triton-PIA02212_modest.jpgTriton from Voyager 2 (false colors?)54 visiteCaption NASA originale:"The smallest features that can be seen in this false color image of Neptune's largest satellite, Triton, are about 47 Km across. The image, taken by Voyager 2 early in the morning of Aug. 23, 1989, is a composite of three images taken through ultraviolet, green, and violet filters. The image offers an example of the kinds of puzzles scientists face on the eve of an encounter: mottling in the bright southern hemisphere may be the result of topography, if Triton's crust is predominantly water ice, which is rigid at Triton's surface temperature. Alternatively, the mottling could be due to markings on a smooth surface, if the crust is composed of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, or methane ice, since they are soft at the same temperature". Nota: in questo frame la NASA parla chiaramente di "false colors" mentre nel successivo dice "natural colors". Ora a noi i "colors" di Tritone, nei due frames, sembrano identici.
Sono dunque entrambi "natural" o "false"? Dov'è la verità?Gen 13, 2005
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AA-Neptune-HST-PIA01287_modest.jpgNeptune from HST82 visiteLa seconda serie di immagini del Pianeta Nettuno, ripreso dal Telescopio Spaziale Hubble. Poco da aggiungere rispetto a quanto già detto in precedenza se non che la (quasi totale) impossibilità di fotografare amatorialmente Nettuno dalle nostre latitudini dipende da un continuo e costante degrado dell'atmosfera che ci circonda: inquinamento gassoso ed inquinamento luminoso fanno a gara per vedere quale dei due sia il peggiore.
Purtroppo, sebbene per motivi ed in ambiti diversi, sono entrambi "letali"!Ott 13, 2004
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Nereid-V2-PIA00054.jpgNereid55 visiteUn'immagine certo non magnifica, ma di grande valore e molto rara: si tratta di Nereide, la seconda delle due Lune Maggiori di Nettuno. I dettagli che possono percepirsi da questa fotografia ottenuta dal Voyager 2 sono troppo indefiniti per poter azzardare delle valutazioni, ma l'ipotesi più probabile relativamente alle fattezze di Nereide, è che si tratti di un piccolo mondo fatto di roccia e ghiaccio, dalla forma irregolare, ricoperto di crateri da impatto e costellato da crepacci che ne rendono la superficie completamente inospitale.
Forse, come sostengono alcuni Scienziati, si potrebbe trattare di un KBO catturato da Nettuno in tempi assai remoti.Ott 13, 2004
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AA-Neptune-HST-PIA01285_modest.jpgNeptune from HST57 visitePer incominciare il nostro breve viaggio verso l'ultimo dei Giganti Gassosi, ci sembra giusto mostrarVi due serie di immagini del "Re dei Mari" che sono state ottenute dall'Hubble Space Telescope. Nettuno ci appare come un disco dal colorito azzurro vivo, sul quale spiccano - ora bianche, ora con colori e sfumature diverse - le grandi formazioni nuvolose che attraversano rapidamente gli strati alti dell'atmosfera del Pianeta.
Nettuno, per gli amanti della fotografia spaziale, è un obbiettivo difficile ed al confine estremo di visibilità dalla Terra, allorchè si faccia uso di strumenti amatoriali. A "fuoco diretto", usando un buon telescopio (tipo C-8), esso appare leggermente più definito di una stella, la forma sferica è appena percepibile ed il colorito, purtroppo, grigio-azzurrato, molto lontano - purtroppo - dal suo colore naturale, come vedremo sia nelle foto HST, sia nelle foto Voyager.Ott 13, 2004
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Neptune and Triton - PIA01491_modest.jpgNeptune and Triton56 visiteCaption NASA originale:"This image was returned by the Voyager 2 spacecraft on July 3, 1989, when it was 76 MKM from Neptune. The planet and its largest satellite, Triton, are captured in the field of view of Voyager's narrow-angle camera through violet, clear and orange filters. Triton appears in the lower right corner at about 5 o'clock relative to Neptune.
Recent measurements from Voyager images show Triton to be between 1.400 and 1.800 Km in radius with a surface that is about as bright as freshly fallen snow". Set 22, 2004
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ZA-Triton-PIA02247_modest.jpgFarewell Triton...54 visiteCaption NASA originale:"Voyager 2 obtained this parting shot of Triton, Neptune's largest satellite, shortly after closest approach to the moon and passage through its shadow on the morning of Aug. 25, 1989. The distance to Triton was 90.000 Km and the phase angle was 155°, so that only a thin crescent of Triton's south polar region can be seen. Because of the high phase angle, and perhaps because of scattering sunlight in Triton's hazy atmosphere, few surface features are also easily discernible". Un piccolo commento: non sembra anche a Voi di intuire una sottile somiglianza fra Tritone e Titano?...Set 12, 2004
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Neptune-South_Hem-V2-PIA00050_modest.jpgThe Southern Polar Region of Neptune from approx. 4.200.000 Km65 visiteGli Scienziati, analizzando le immagini fornite dalla Sonda Voyager 2, si sono convinti che il sistema atmosferico di Nettuno sia molto simile a quello di Giove: queste grandi formazioni nuvolose bianche riprese dalle fotocamere della Sonda si formano, al pari dei venti che le sospingono, nelle zone equatoriali del Pianeta. Poi, spostandosi verso Sud, questi venti diventano sempre più veloci e violenti. Un sistema configurato in maniera interessante ma, probabilmente, piuttosto instabile.Set 01, 2004
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