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| Piú viste - Saturn: the "Ringed Beauty" and His Moons |
Rhea-PIA14574-PCF-LXTT.jpgRhea in the Saturnshine (Enhanced Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)140 visiteCaption NASA:"Southern Terrain on Saturn's moon Rhea is dimly illuminated by Saturnshine in this Cassini Spacecraft view of the dark side of the moon. The Spacecraft's camera is looking toward the night side of Rhea, but sunlight reflected off the day side of immense Saturn is bright enough to illuminate the Craters seen here. This view is centered on Terrain located at about 23° South Latitude and 315° West Longitude. A few background stars are visible.
The image was taken in Visible Light with the Cassini Spacecraft wide-angle camera on Aug. 1, 2011. The view was obtained at a distance of approx. 6000 Km (such as about 3700 miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-Spacecraft, or Phase, Angle of 113°. Scale in the original image was 800 meters (2600 feet) per pixel. The image was contrast enhanced and magnified by a factor of 1.5 to enhance the visibility of the surface features".MareKromium
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Pandora.pngPandora: nice and close (Credits: Dr Marco Faccin and Elisabetta Bonora)137 visiteUnbelievable view.MareKromium
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Saturn-N00080469-00.jpgShooting Star or Alien Spaceship in-transit? (1)136 visiteQuesta coppia di frame la riteniamo semplicemente straordinaria poichè essa potrebbe essere una nuova prova tangibile del verificarsi di un evento di grande significato e valore.
La nostra sensibilità ed esperienza ci dicono che la striscia che appare in entrambi i frames (i quali, per giunta, sono consecutivi) è l'evidenza di un fenomeno unitario e NON è un image-artifact.
E' la "tessitura" dello streak a dirci che non si tratta di un image artifact, bensì di un corpo il quale emana luce propria e che si sta muovendo davanti ad una delle fotocamere di Cassini. Dopo aver effettuato un rapido calcolo, ci sentiamo pure di dire che, con ogni probabilità, l'oggetto ripreso è una meteora che sta precipitando verso le profondità dell'atmosfera di Saturno (e questa sarebbe la seconda individuata da Lunexit).
Note: il frame N00080469 è stato ottenuto da una distanza di 793.230 Km da Saturno; il frame N00080470, invece, è stato ottenuto da una distanza di 791.553 Km.
Considerato lo scarto di 1677 Km tra il primo ed il secondo frame e supponendo che Cassini si stia muovendo radialmente rispetto a Saturno e ad una velocità di circa 9 Km al secondo (fonte NASA), possiamo agevolmente calcolare che le due immagini sono state ottenute a distanza di 3 minuti e 10 secondi (circa) l'una dall'altra.
Ora, se la velocità di ingresso di una meteora nell'atmosfera di un Pianeta (qualsiasi Pianeta), è difficilmente inferiore (diciamo mediamente pari) ai 30.000 Km orari, ne deriva che il nostro "corpo celeste non identificato" dovrebbe aver percorso, in 1 minuto di "corsa", circa 500 Km (il che pure significa una "corsa" di circa 1600 Km in poco più di 3 minuti).
Tenuto conto della distanza Cassini/corpo celeste non identificato e dell'ampiezza del campo visivo della Sonda, a nostro parere, i conti (almeno da un punto di vista teorico) ci sembra che tornino.
Pertanto, nel silenzio della NASA (come degli altri Scienziati, Ricercatori ed Appassionati che si occupano di questa Materia), noi battezziamo questo "bolide" come il nome di LNXT2-08-04-2007.
Se avete commenti o annotazioni da fare in ordine a questa (possibile) scoperta, Vi invitiamo a contattarci.
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Enceladus-PIA11558.jpgEnceladus, in the distance (Natural Colors; credits: Lunexit)136 visiteCaption NASA:"The Cassini Spacecraft looks past the illuminated side of Saturn's Rings to the brilliant moon Enceladus.
Although the moon's brightness may make it appear closer to the observer, Enceladus is actually farther from the Spacecraft than the Rings in this image. As Saturn's brightest, whitest satellite, Enceladus (about 504 Km, or approx. 313 miles across) has one of the most reflective surfaces (---> Albedo) in the Solar System.
The Rings have been brightened relative to the moon to enhance visibility. This view looks toward the sunlit side of the rings from about 5° below the Ring-Plane.
The image was taken in Visible Light with the Cassini Spacecraft wide-angle camera on June 25, 2009. The view was obtained at a distance of approx. 670.000 Km (about 416.000 miles) from Enceladus and at a Sun-Enceladus-Spacecraft, or Phase, Angle of 51°.
Image scale is roughly 40 Km (about 25 miles) per pixel".MareKromium
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Huygens-IMG001254-br500.jpgThe "Huygens Probe" - detail mgnf135 visiteCaption NASA originale: "The European Space Agency's Huygens Probe appears shining as it coasts away from Cassini in this close-up of an image taken on Dec. 26, 2004, just two days after it successfully detached from the Cassini spacecraft.
Shown here side-by-side is a close-up of the Huygens probe. The image on the left shows the relative size of the probe. The bright spots in both images are probably due to light reflecting off the blanketing material that covers the probe".
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Helene-PIA12779-PCF-LXTT.jpgLike a "Cosmic Apple"... (Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunar Explorer Italia)135 visiteCaption NASA:"Saturn's small, irregularly shaped moon Helene is strikingly illuminated in this close view captured by Cassini during the Spacecraft's June 18, 2011, Fly-By. Although it is not visible at this exposure, the Planet (Saturn?) actually fills the dark background of this image of Helene.
This view looks toward the anti-Saturn side of Helene (which is about 33 Km, or approx. 21 miles across). North on Helene is up. The lit Terrain on the right is on the Leading Hemisphere, while lit Terrain at the top of the image surrounds the North Pole.
This image was taken in Visible Light with the Cassini Spacecraft narrow-angle camera. The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 11,000 kilometers (7,000 miles) from Helene and at a Sun-Helene-Spacecraft, or Phase, Angle of 151°.
Image scale is roughly 67 meters (220 feet) per pixel".MareKromium
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Tethys-PIA09915-1.jpgShall Odysseus ever find Ithaca? (Stretched Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the add. process.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga-LXTT-IPF)135 visiteCaption NASA:"From a highly inclined orbit, the Cassini Spacecraft looks toward far Northern Latitudes on Tethys.
Here, the spacecraft was above a position about 45° North of the moon's Equator.
This vantage point afforded a view of the moon's three most recognizable features: the Ithaca Chasma Canyon System (at lower right), Odysseus Crater (at upper left) and the Equatorial Band of Darker Terrain (at lower left).
Lit terrain seen here is on the Leading Hemisphere of Tethys (1062 Km, or approx. 660 miles across). North is up.
The image was taken in Visible Light with the NASA - Cassini Spacecraft narrow-angle camera on April 29, 2008.
The view was obtained at a distance of approx. 991.000 Km (such as about 616.000 miles) from Tethys and at Phase Angle of 73°.
Image scale is roughly 6 Km (about 4 miles) per pixel".MareKromium
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UnusualObject-N00122100-N00122130.gifUnusually-looking "Object" in the Space of Saturn - possible Gravity Waves' phenomenon (GIF-Movie; credits: Dr G. Barca)133 visiteIn questa lunga e spettacolare ricostruzione via-GIF Movie (operata dal paziente e bravissimo Dr Barca), possiamo notare un fenomeno veramente curioso che pare colpire gli Anelli di Saturno, subito dopo il passaggio di un oggetto che - onestamente - non siamo riusciti ad identificare.
Nella fattispecie noterete che, subito dopo il transito del Corpo Anomalo (visibile nel quadrante superiore Sx), gli Anelli di Saturno - riteniamo l'Anello "F" - pare "vibrare e contorcersi", in maniera tanto evidente ed eclatante, quanto (fisicamente) impossibile.
Come sapete, il fenomeno delle Gravity Waves che alterano il moto delle particelle che formano i vari Anelli di Saturno, così provocando delle Deformazioni TRANSITORIE dei medesimi - fenomeno che è possibile solo su scala locale ed in forma assai contenuta -, si verifica allorchè una Luna-Pastore attraversa un Anello, con ciò causando un evento di Influenza Mareale (o Gravitazionale), fisicamente e visivamente assimilabile al fenomeno che occorre allorchè un corpo solido attraversa un fluido (ergo: lo "taglia" e, nel farlo, genera delle onde che durano per un certo tempo e quindi si ristabilisce la quiete).
Un fenomeno eclatante come quello che si vede in questo filmato, invece, laddove fosse realmente accaduto nel modo in cui e con quel vigore con il quale SEMBRA verificarsi, avrebbe - letteralmente - sconquassato l'Anello coinvolto, possibilmente frantumandolo (tecnicamente si dice "disrupting the Ring's gravitational balance").
Il che, come ovvio, non è accaduto.
E allora? E allora, a nostro modo di vedere, l'oscillazione che pare coinvolgere l'Anello di Saturno al seguito del passaggio del Corpo Anomalo, in realtà, non si risolve in una oscillazione dell'Anello, bensì:
1) in una repentina (ed inspiegabile) oscillazione dell'Orbiter, la cui ripresa, a causa del movimento repentino al quale esso è stato sottoposto, diviene "mossa" e ci dà l'illusione di una deformazione che, in realtà, non esiste, oppure
2) nella produzione di un'Onda Gravitazionale (e questa è l'ipotesi che preferiamo) la quale NON deforma nulla SE NON la visione (rectius: percezione) dell'oggetto rispetto ad un Osservatore che si trova sulla sua linea di efficacia - ivi: l'Orbiter e la sua camera (per chiarire la situazione verificatasi pensate a questo esempio: supponete che stiate guardando la Vostra immagine riflessa nell'acqua quando, improvvisamente, arrivano nella Vostra direzione delle onde. Che cosa succede alla Vostra immagine?!?...).
Suggestivo, non credete?
Certo, esiste anche una Terza Ipotesi (e cioè che stiamo prendendo una svista di dimensioni planetarie...) ma, in fondo, delle immagini come queste non possono non spingerci a riflettere ed a porci della domande. E le domande, si sa, non sono MAI sbagliate! Le risposte - spessissimo...ahinoi! - lo sono.
E Voi? Che ne pensate?...MareKromium
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Phoebe-PIA06066.jpgPhoebe133 visiteCaption NASA:"Early images returned from the first detailed reconnaissance of Saturn's small outer moon, Phoebe, show breathtaking details in the moon's pockmarked Surface that already have imaging scientists puzzling over the body's history. The images are only a preview of what to expect from the High Resolution images which will show details about 10 times smaller.
Phoebe has revealed itself to be a rugged, heavily cratered body, with overlapping craters of varying sizes.
This morphology suggests an old Surface. There are apparently many craters smaller than 1 km, indicating that projectiles probably smaller than 100 meters once pummeled Phoebe.
Whether these objects were Cometary or Asteroidal in origin, or were the debris that resulted from impacts on other bodies within the Saturn System, is hotly debated. There is also variation in surface brightness across the body.
In the first image (at left) in which Phoebe looks somewhat like a sideways skull, the large crater near the bottom displays a complex and rugged interior. The lower right hand part of Phoebe appears to be covered by bright wispy material.
The second, Higher Resolution image further reveals the moon's battered Surface, including a crater near the right hand edge with bright rays that extend outward from its center. This suggests that dark material coats the outside. Features reminiscent of those seen on the Martian moon Phobos -- such as Linear Grooves -- are faintly visible in the upper part of this image.
There are suggestions of Linear Ridges or Grooves and of Chains of Craters, perhaps radial to a large crater just hidden on the un-illuminated region in the upper left.
Left to right, the two views were obtained at phase, or Sun-Phoebe-Spacecraft, Angles of approximately 86°, and from distances ranging from 143.068 Km (88.845,228 miles) to 77,441 kilometers (48.090,861 miles); for reference, Cassini's closest approach to Phoebe was approximately 2068 Km (1284,228 miles). The image scale ranges from 0,86 to 0,46 Km per pixel. No enhancement of any kind has been performed on the images".MareKromium
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Saturnian_Lightnings-01.jpgSaturnian Storm and Lightnings (EDM - credits: NASA/JPL/SSI)133 visiteA monster storm spawning bolts of lightning 10.000 times more powerful than any seen on Earth is raging on the Ringed Planet Saturn.
The powerful electrical storm cropped up in Saturn's Southern Hemisphere five months ago, when it was first spotted by NASA's Cassini Spacecraft, and has persevered to become the Planet's longest continuously recorded tempest to date.
"We saw similar storms in 2004 and 2006 that each lasted for nearly a month, but this storm is longer-lived by far, said Georg Fischer, an associate with Cassini's radio and plasma wave science team at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, in a statement. And it appeared after nearly two years during which we did not detect any electrical storm activity from Saturn."
Cassini's radio and plasma wave science instrument first picked up signals from the storm's lightning bursts on Nov. 27, 2007, with the probe's cameras catching their first visual glimpse on Dec. 6. Images of the storm show it as a smudge on Saturn's otherwise creamy cloud bands.
"The electrostatic radio outbursts have waxed and waned in intensity for five months now," Fischer said.
Electrical storms on Saturn are similar to thunderstorms on Earth, but much larger. They can span thousands of miles and generate radio bursts from lightning that can be thousands of times more powerful than Earthly lightning bolts, said mission scientists, who named a massive lightning storm in 2004 "Dragon".
The current electrical tempest is mired in a region of Saturn that mission scientists have dubbed "Storm Alley" because of its frequent and intense storms. Every few seconds the storm belches intense radio pulses consistent with lightning that can be detected even when the weather itself is over the horizon and out of direct view from Cassini.
Researchers hope that by tracking the Saturnian weather, they may gain new insights into the processes behind the Planet's lightning, as well as how it changes as the seasons shift from Summer to Autumn in Saturn's Southern Hemisphere.
In order to see the storm, the imaging cameras have to be looking at the right place at the right time, and whenever our cameras see the storm, the radio outbursts are there," said Ulyana Dyudina, a Cassini imaging team associate at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif.
Cassini's onboard instruments have tracked the storm every 10 hours and 40 minutes, when Saturn's rotation brings it into view, though amateur astronomers are also watching over the tempest from Earth.
"Since Cassini's camera cannot track the storm every day, the amateur data are invaluable," said Fischer. "I am in continuous contact with astronomers from around the world."
Launched in 1997, Cassini arrived at Saturn in 2004 and has spotted a series of odd storms while studying the Ringed Planet and its many moons. The probe has captured views of a hurricane-like storm near the South Pole of Saturn and recorded a massive lightning storm about 2175 miles wide (3500,3145 Km) wide in 2006.MareKromium
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Saturnian_Lightnings-00.jpgSaturnian Storm and Lightnings (CTX Frame - credits: NASA/JPL/SSI)133 visiteA powerful lightning storm brewing in Saturn's atmosphere since January has become the solar system's longest continuously observed thunderstorm, astronomers have announced.
The storm breaks the record duration of 7,5 months set by another thunderstorm observed on Saturn by NASA's Cassini Spacecraft between November 2007 and July 2008. The current thunderstorm on Saturn is the ninth that has been measured since Cassini swung into orbit around Saturn in July 2004.
Lightning discharges in Saturn's Atmosphere emit very powerful radio waves, which are measured by the antennas and receivers of the Cassini Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) instrument. The radio waves are about 10.000 times stronger than their terrestrial counterparts and originate from huge thunderstorms in Saturn's Atmosphere with diameters of about 1900 miles (3057,746 Km).
The observations of this latest thunderstorm will be presented by Georg Fischer of the Austrian Academy of Sciences at the European Planetary Science Congress in Potsdam, Germany, on Sept. 15. "These lightning storms are not only astonishing for their power and longevity, the radio waves that they emit are also useful for studying Saturn's Ionosphere, the charged layer that surrounds the planet a few thousand kilometers above the cloud tops," Fischer said. "The radio waves have to cross the Ionosphere to get to Cassini and thereby act as a natural tool to probe the structure of the layer and the levels of ionization in different regions."
Results from Cassini's RPWS instrument have confirmed previous studies of the Voyager spacecraft indicating that levels of ionization are approx. 100 times higher on the day-side than the night side of Saturn's Ionosphere.
Lightning storms on Saturn usually occur in a region that nicknamed "Storm Alley" by scientists. The region lies 35° South of Saturn's Equator.
"The reason why we see lightning in this peculiar location is not completely clear," Fischer said. "It could be that this latitude is one of the few places in Saturn's Atmosphere that allow large-scale vertical convection of water clouds, which is necessary for thunderstorms to develop. However, it may be a seasonal effect. Voyager observed lightning storms near the Equator, so now that Saturn has passed its Equinox on Aug. 11, we may see the storms move back to Equatorial Latitudes."
The lightning's presence was confirmed in another way: During Cassini's last close flyby of Titan on Aug. 25, Cassini's view of Saturn was obscured by Titan for a half-hour, and no lightning was observed. "Although we know from Cassini images where Saturn lightning comes from, this unique event was another nice proof for their origin," Fischer also said.MareKromium
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Enceladus-EB-LXTT~0.jpgIce & Light Pillars (an Image-Mosaic by Elisabetta Bonora - Lunexit Team)132 visitenessun commentoMareKromium
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