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| Ultimi arrivi - SOLAR SYSTEM |
101955-Bennu-011.jpg101955 Bennu - Boulderland64 visiteCaption NASA:"An abundance of Boulders litters the Surface of the Asteroid 101955 Bennu in this dramatic close-up from the OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft.
Taken on March 28 from a distance of just 3,4 Km (approx. 2,1 miles) the field of view is about 50 meters across while the light colored boulder at top right is about 4,8 meters tall.
Likely a loose conglomerate rubble pile Asteroid, Bennu itself spans less than 500 meters. That's about the height of the Empire State Building.
Mapping the near Earth Asteroid since the Spacecraft's arrival in December of 2018, the OSIRIS-REx mission plans a TAG (Touch-and-Go) maneuver for July 2020 to sample Bennu's rugged Surface, returning the sample to planet Earth in September 2023. Citizen scientists have been invited to help choose the sample collection site". MareKromium%22 %766 %2019
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101955-Bennu-North_Pole-010.png101955 Bennu - North Polar Terminator59 visiteCaption NASA:"This image shows a Region near asteroid Bennus North Pole on the Terminator Line (such as the line between the Asteroids day and night sides).
The OSIRIS-Rex Spacecrafts MapCam camera obtained the image on Feb. 20, 2019 while in orbit around the Asteroid from a distance of approx. 1,1 miles (such as about 1,8 Km).
At this distance, each pixel covers approximately 4,5" (---> inches, such as about 12 cm) of 101955 Bennus Surface. The largest Boulder, located slightly left (Sx) of the center, measures around 52 feet (approx. 16 meters) across, which, for scale, is the length of the trailer on a semi-truck.
During the Missions Orbital Phase, OSIRIS-REx circled the Asteroid near 101955 Bennus Terminator Line. While this positioning helped to maintain the Spacecraft in a stable orbit, the half-light/half-dark view of it created challenging conditions for science imaging".MareKromium%22 %766 %2019
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ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-Ultima_Thule_2-flyby.gifUltima Thule (Fly-By)67 visiteOriginal Caption:"Mission scientists created this "departure movie" from 14 different images taken by the New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) shortly after the spacecraft flew past the Kuiper Belt object nicknamed Ultima Thule (officially named 2014 MU69) on Jan. 1, 2019".MareKromium%19 %405 %2019
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ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-Ultima_Thule_-_1.jpgUltima Thule91 visiteThe New Horizons team used the Hubble Space Telescope to search for its post-Pluto, Kuiper Belt flyby target. Using observations made with Hubble on June 26, 2014, the science team (led by co-investigator Marc Buie) discovered an object that New Horizons could reach with its available fuel. The object was subsequently designated 2014 MU69, given the minor planet number 485968 and, with public input, nicknamed "Ultima Thule" (which means "beyond the known world").
MU69 is located in the Kuiper Belt, beyond the orbit of Neptune. At 12:33 a.m. (EST) on January 1, 2019, New Horizons flew just 2,200 miles (3,500) kilometers from the object's surface, when it was about 4 billion miles (6.6 billion kilometers) from the Sun -- the most distant planetary flyby in history and the first close-up look at a solar system object of this type.
Ultima Thule is the first unquestionably primordial contact binary ever explored. Approach pictures hinted at a strange, snowman-like shape, but further analysis of images, taken near closest approach, uncovered just how unusual the KBO's shape really is. At 22 miles (35 kilometers) long, the binary consists of a large, flat lobe (nicknamed "Ultima") connected to a smaller, rounder lobe (nicknamed "Thule").
This strange shape was the biggest surprise of the flyby. Nothign like it has been anywhere in the solar system -- sending the planetary science community back to the drawing board to understand how planetesimals (the building blocks of the planets) form.
Because it is so well preserved, MU69 offered our clearest look back to the era of planetesimal accretion and the earliest stages of planetary formation. Apparently the two lobes once orbited each other, like many so-called binary worlds in the Kuiper Belt, until something brought them together in a "gentle" merger.
In color and composition, New Horizons data revealed that MU69 resembles many other objects found in its region of the Kuiper Belt. Consistent with pre-flyby observations from the Hubble Telescope, Ultima Thule is very red redder even than Pluto, which New Horizons flew past on the inner edge of the Kuiper Belt in 2015 and about the same color as many other so-called "cold classical" KBOs. ("Cold" referring not to temperature but to the circular, uninclined orbits of these objects; "classical" in that their orbits have changed little since forming, and represent a sample of the primordial Kuiper Belt.)
New Horizons scientists have also seen evidence for methanol, water ice and organic molecules on the surface -- a spectrum similar to some of the most extreme objects we've seen in the outer solar system.
Flyby data transmission continues, with all data expected on the ground by late summer 2020.MareKromium%08 %228 %2019
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Enceladus-PIA18328-PCF-LXTT-IPF.jpgIn the Saturnshine... (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)124 visiteThe Saturnian moon Enceladus looks as if it is half lit by Sunlight in this view from the NASA - Cassini Spacecraft; but looks, as you know, can be (as they often are) deceiving.
In fact, the kind of pinkish area of Enceladus visible on the right (Dx) of the frame, where MANY Surface Features can be made out (---> seen/identified), is actually illuminated by the light reflected off of Saturn (such as the so-called "Saturnshine"). On the other hand, a sliver of the Enceladian Surface that is actually illuminated by direct Sunlight is visible - and also highly overexposed! - on the left (Sx) of the picture. Images like this one are designed to capture the extended Plumes of Icy Materials spraying from huge cracks located the moon's South Polar Region. Such images need to be taken with the NASA - Cassini Spacecraft looking toward the Icy moon's Night Side, since the small particles that form the Plumes (however, just barely visible in this picture) are most easily seen when backlit by the Sun.
This view looks toward the Leading Hemisphere of Enceladus; North is up. The image was taken in Visible Light with the NASA - Cassini Spacecraft's Narrow-Angle Camera on May 10, 2015. Enceladus is roughly 313 miles (such as about 503,72 Km) across. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 226.000 miles (such as approx. 363.7210,84 Km) from Enceladus and at a Sun-Enceladus-Cassini Spacecraft, or Phase, Angle of 152. Image scale is roughly 1,4 miles (about 2,2530 Km) per pixel.
This frame (which is an Original NASA - CASSINI Spacecraft's b/w and NON Map-Projected image published on the NASA - Planetary Photojournal with the ID n. PIA 18328) has been additionally processed, contrast enhanced, magnified, in order to allow the vision of the slightest details of the Surface, Gamma corrected and then re-colorized - according to an educated guess (or, if you wish, an informed speculation) carried out by Dr Paolo C. Fienga - 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, toward the Saturnian moon "Enceladus"), 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 other things, the existence of different Elements (Minerals) present on the Surface of Enceladus, each having a different Albedo (---> Reflectivity) and Chemical Composition.
Note: it is possible (but we, as IPF, have no way to be one-hundred-percent sure of such a circumstance), that the actual luminosity of Enceladus - as it is in this frame - would appear, to an average human eye, a little bit lower than it has been shown (or, better yet: interpreted) here.MareKromium%24 %537 %2015
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Hyperion-PIA17194-PCF-LXTT-IPF.jpgFarewell Hyperion! Part II (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)80 visiteThe NASA - Cassini Spacecraft's Imaging Scientists processed this view of Saturn's so-called "spongy" moon Hyperion, which was taken - just like yesterday's one - during a close Fly-By that occurred on May 31, 2015. This Fly-By marks the Mission's Final Close Approach to this Saturnian highly irregularly shaped moon. North on Hyperion is up and rotated 34 to the left (Sx).
The image was taken in Visible Light, with the NASA - Cassini Spacecraft's Narrow-Angle Camera - as we wrote herebefore - on May 31, 2015. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 24.000 miles (such as about 38.624,159 Km) from Hyperion and at a Sun-Hyperion-Cassini Spacecraft, or Phase, Angle of 46. Image scale is roughly 145 feet (such as approx. 44,196 meters) per pixel. l.
This frame (which is an Original NASA - CASSINI Spacecraft's b/w and NON Map-Projected image published on the NASA - Planetary Photojournal with the ID n. PIA 17194) has been additionally processed, contrast enhanced, magnified to help the visibility of the Surface details, Gamma corrected and then re-colorized - according to an educated guess (or, if you wish, an informed speculation) carried out by Dr Paolo C. Fienga - 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 "Hyperion"), 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 other things, the existence of different Elements (Minerals) present on the Surface of Hyperion, each having a different Albedo (---> Reflectivity) and Chemical Composition.
Note: it is possible (but we, as IPF, have no way to be one-hundred-percent sure of such a circumstance), that the actual luminosity of Hyperion - as it is in this frame - would appear, to an average human eye, a little bit lower than it has been shown (or, better yet: interpreted) here.MareKromium%24 %536 %2015
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Hyperion-PIA17193-PCF-LXTT-IPF.jpgFarewell Hyperion! Part I (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)90 visiteThe NASA - Cassini Spacecraft's Imaging Scientists processed this view of Saturn's so-called "spongy" moon Hyperion, which was taken during a close Fly-By that occurred on May 31, 2015. This Fly-By marks the Mission's Final Close Approach to this Saturnian highly irregularly shaped moon. North on Hyperion is up and rotated 37 to the right (Dx).
The image was taken with the NASA - Cassini Spacecraft's Narrow-Angle Camera - as we wrote herebefore - on May 31, 2015, by using a Spectral Filter which preferentially admits Wavelengths of Near-InfraRed Light, centered at 862 nanometers. The view was acquired at a distance of approx. 37.000 miles (such as about 59.545,58 Km) from Hyperion, and at a Sun-Hyperion-Cassini Spacecraft, or Phase, Angle of 20. The Image Scale is roughly 1180 feet (such as approx. 359,664 meters) per pixel.
This frame (which is an Original NASA - CASSINI Spacecraft's b/w and NON Map-Projected image published on the NASA - Planetary Photojournal with the ID n. PIA 17193) has been additionally processed, contrast enhanced, magnified to help the visibility of the Surface details, Gamma corrected and then re-colorized - according to an educated guess (or, if you wish, an informed speculation) carried out by Dr Paolo C. Fienga - 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 "Hyperion"), 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 other things, the existence of different Elements (Minerals) present on the Surface of Hyperion, each having a different Albedo (---> Reflectivity) and Chemical Composition.
Note: it is possible (but we, as IPF, have no way to be one-hundred-percent sure of such a circumstance), that the actual luminosity of Hyperion - as it is in this frame - would appear, to an average human eye, a little bit lower than it has been shown (or, better yet: interpreted) here.MareKromium%24 %534 %2015
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012-1-Ceres-PIA19620-PCF-LXTT-IPF.jpgHuge Mountain on 1-Ceres (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)64 visiteLocated just on the Limb (obviously, only from our point of view) of the so-called "Dwarf Planet" 1-Ceres, at about 7 o'clock of 1-Ceres' (highly uneven) disk, we can see - once again - the large Flat-Topped Mountain - about 3 miles (such as approx. 4,82802 Km) high, surrounded by (relatively) smooth Terrain - that we have already shown you in yesterday's APOD. Probably it is useless to say - but it is a good thing, in our opinion, as IPF, to underline this specific circumstance - the so-called Emission Angle here is very high. The "new" White Spot, as well as the white Material that we have noticed still in yesterday's APOD, are also clearly visible here, in this picture.
As we have already said in the past, also this specific frame is just one among the first snapshots coming from Dawn's second Mapping Orbit of 1-Ceres, which is carried out from an altitude of approx. 2700 miles (such as about 4345,218 Km). Even in this case, the Resolution is roughly 1400 feet (such as approx. 426,72 meters) per pixel.
The image (which is an Original NASA - Dawn Spacecraft's b/w and NON Map-Projected frame published on the NASA - Planetary Photojournal with the ID n. PIA 19587 - Dawn Survey Orbit Image 19) has been additionally processed, magnified to aid the visibility of the details, contrast enhanced and sharpened, Gamma corrected and then colorized (according to an educated guess carried out by Dr Paolo C. Fienga-LXTT-IPF) in Absolute Natural Colors (such as the colors that a normal human eye would actually perceive if someone were onboard the NASA - Dawn Spacecraft and then looked ahead, towards the Limb and Surface of 1-Ceres), by using an original technique created - and, in time, dramatically improved - by the Lunar Explorer Italia Team.MareKromium%24 %527 %2015
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ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-Pluto-nh_01_stern_05_pluto_hazenew-PCF-LXTT-IPF-0.jpgFarewell to Pluto - Part I (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)108 visiteEven though it is (just slightly) unevenly backlit by the Sun, Plutos Atmosphere shows its "foggy" silhouette like a Luminous Halo in this beautiful image taken by the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft around midnight (EDT) on July, 15, 2015.
This global portrait of the Plutonian Atmosphere was captured when the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft was already about 1,25 Million Miles (such as approx. 2.011.675 Million KiloMeters) away from Pluto, and it shows us Atmospherical Structures (quite similar, in our opinion, as IPF, to the ones visible all around the Saturnian moon Titan) as small as roughly 12 miles (approx. 19,312 Km) across. The image, which has been received on Earth on July, 23, 2015, is displayed with the North Pole of Pluto at the top of the frame.
The image (which is an Original NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft's b/w and NON Map-Projected frame published on the NASA - Mew Horizons Page of July, 24, 2015 and with the ID n. nh_01_stern_05_pluto_hazenew) has been additionally processed, magnified to aid the visibility of the details, contrast enhanced and sharpened, Gamma corrected and then colorized (according to an educated guess carried out by Dr Paolo C. Fienga-LXTT-IPF) in Absolute Natural Colors (such as the colors that a normal human eye would actually perceive if someone were onboard the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft and then looked ahead, towards the Dwarf-Planet Pluto), by using an original technique created - and, in time, dramatically improved - by the Lunar Explorer Italia Team.MareKromium%24 %525 %2015
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ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-Pluto-nh_01_stern_05_pluto_hazenew-PCF-LXTT-IPF-1.jpgFarewell to Pluto - Part II (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)88 visiteEven though it is (just slightly) unevenly backlit by the Sun, Plutos Atmosphere shows its "foggy" silhouette like a Luminous Halo in this beautiful Extra Detail Magnification (or "EDM", for short) obtained from a Contextual Image taken by the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft around midnight (EDT) on July, 15, 2015 (and shown in yesterday's APOD).
This partial portrait of the Plutonian Atmosphere was captured when the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft was already about 1,25 Million Miles (such as approx. 2.011.675 Million KiloMeters) away from Pluto, and it shows us the most illuminated Atmospherical Structures (quite similar, in our opinion, as IPF, to the ones visible all around the Saturnian moon Titan) as small as roughly 12 miles (approx. 19,312 Km) across. The image, which has been received on Earth on July, 23, 2015, is displayed with the North Pole of Pluto at the top of the frame.
The image (which is a crop taken from an Original NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft's b/w and NON Map-Projected frame published on the NASA - Mew Horizons Page of July, 24, 2015 and with the ID n. nh_01_stern_05_pluto_hazenew) has been additionally processed, magnified to aid the visibility of the details, contrast enhanced and sharpened, Gamma corrected and then colorized (according to an educated guess carried out by Dr Paolo C. Fienga-LXTT-IPF) in Absolute Natural Colors (such as the colors that a normal human eye would actually perceive if someone were onboard the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft and then looked ahead, towards the Dwarf-Planet Pluto), by using an original technique created - and, in time, dramatically improved - by the Lunar Explorer Italia Team.MareKromium%24 %523 %2015
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009-1-Ceres-PIA19884-PCF-LXTT-IPF-1.jpgWhite Unnamed Crater on 1-Ceres (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)59 visiteToday's APOD is an Extra Detail Magnification (or "EDM", for short) of yesterday's Contextual (or "CTX", for short) Frame, taken by the NASA - Dawn Spacecraft that shows us a small White Crater (---> also informally known as "White Spot") that is located in the Northern Hemisphere of the Dwarf Planet named 1-Ceres.
Now, we ask you one (extremely complicated, in fact) question that you, however, should try to answer: why, on 1-Ceres, the huge and deep Impact Craters do not show "White Material" inside them, while, on the other hand, the small and shallow ones (Impact Craters) do? Probably because, but we, as IPF, cannot be sure of this (just like everyone else), the White Material, in the end, does not belong to/comes from the Sub-Surface of 1-Ceres (as we thought, at the beginning), but it belongs to/comes from the Impactors. And you, what do you think?...If you want to share your opinion, please, write us at alphacentauri@intercom.it
The picture was taken from an altitude of approx. 915 miles (such as about 1472,5461 Km) from the Surface, with a resolution of roughly 450 feet (such as about 137,16 meters) per pixel, was taken on August 21, 2015.
This image (which is a crop taken from an Original NASA - Dawn Spacecraft's b/w and NON Map-Projected frame published on the NASA - Planetary Photojournal with the ID n. PIA 19884 - Dawn HAMO Image 8) has been additionally processed, extra-magnified to aid the visibility of the details, contrast enhanced and sharpened, Gamma corrected and then colorized (according to an educated guess carried out by Dr Paolo C. Fienga-LXTT-IPF) in Absolute Natural Colors (such as the colors that a normal human eye would actually perceive if someone were onboard the NASA - Dawn Spacecraft and then looked ahead, towards the Surface of 1-Ceres), by using an original technique created - and, in time, dramatically improved - by the Lunar Explorer Italia Team.MareKromium%24 %520 %2015
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010-1-Ceres-PIA19898-PCF-LXTT-IPF.jpgUnnamed Crater on the Terminator of 1-Ceres (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)59 visiteThis simply beautiful Contextual (or "CTX", for short) Frame, taken by the NASA - Dawn Spacecraft on August, 26, 2015, shows us, among other interesting things, an Ancient and extremely Complex Unnamed Impact Crater (which seems to be characterized by the presence of an unusually-looking - we would say, as IPF, "columnarly-shaped", maybe? - Central Peak) that is located near the Terminator Line of the Dwarf Planet named 1-Ceres.
If you will pay attention to the frame, you might agree on the fact that the long shadows - which are very well visible all over the picture - make the whole scene - with its deeply complex Surface Details - even more suggestive.
The picture was taken from an altitude of approx. 915 miles (such as about 1472,5461 Km) from the Surface, with a resolution of roughly 450 feet (such as about 137,16 meters) per pixel, was taken on August 21, 2015.
This image (which is an Original NASA - Dawn Spacecraft's b/w and NON Map-Projected frame published on the NASA - Planetary Photojournal with the ID n. PIA 19898 - Dawn HAMO Image 20) has been additionally processed, extra-magnified to aid the visibility of the details, contrast enhanced and sharpened, Gamma corrected and then colorized (according to an educated guess carried out by Dr Paolo C. Fienga-LXTT-IPF) in Absolute Natural Colors (such as the colors that a normal human eye would actually perceive if someone were onboard the NASA - Dawn Spacecraft and then looked ahead, towards the Surface of 1-Ceres), by using an original technique created - and, in time, dramatically improved - by the Lunar Explorer Italia Team.MareKromium%24 %519 %2015
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