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Craters-Unnamed_Crater_in_Terra_Tyrrhena-01.jpgUnnamed Crater and Dunes in Terra Tyrrhena (Original NASA/MGS/MSSS b/w Frame)64 visiteCaption originale:"This MGS-MOC image shows a portion of a Field of Dark Sand Dunes superposed on the light-toned Floor of an Unnamed Crater located in Eastern Tyrrhena Terra. The orientation of the Dunes — with the steep faces toward the South (right) — suggests that winds generally blew from North to South at the time the dunes were formed".
Location near: 14,6° South Lat and 262,3° West Long.
Image width: ~3 Km (~1,9 mi)
Illumination from: lower left
Season: Southern Summer
Nota: la caption originale, come spesso sta accadendo, esprimendosi sulla direzione dei venti che avrebbero scolpito le dune della Terra Tirrena è - scusateci - così stupida che meriterebbe la censura (faremmo solo un favore alla NASA). Tuttavia, dato che il servizio che noi cerchiamo di rendere vuole coprire anche alcuni lati "curiosi" (sic!) della Divulgazione Scientifica, abbiamo pensato di lasciare il commentino ufficiale integro, così che qualsiasi Lettore, leggendolo, possa rendersi conto di che cosa significa "parlare (rectius: scrivere) quando non si ha proprio nulla da dire (scrivere)".
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ZYZ-Q-PlutoLatestColors.jpgThe "true" colors of Pluto (another interpretation)64 visiteUno studio sui possibili colori autentici di Plutone, realizzato dal bravo e modesto Ricercatore Don Davis, di cui abbiamo già apprezzato svariati studi ed elaborazioni sui "Colori del Sistema Solare" (Marte e Venere, in maniera particolare, sono - secondo noi - i suoi lavori più belli e riusciti).
Caption originale:"Pluto seems to have intriguing surface details, with pronounced contrast between white and yellow brown Regions. These regional contrasts have been largely detected by measurements of light changes as Pluto was eclipsed by its large satellite Charon, in the late 1980's. The albedo of Pluto ranges from 0,49 to 0,66, while darker more neutral colored Charon averages about 0,37".
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SOU-SOL036-1.jpgMartian Skies, according to NASA... - Sol 3664 visiteCaption originale di Don Davis:"Only one instance of color adjusting of images has aroused any concern to me regarding integrity of presentation. This Pathfinder Martian Sunrise photo was first released with a pink cloudy sky; a later version of the same picture, on the right, balanced with more care towards presenting what the cameras saw, revealed a much more subdued scene. Clearly the conclusions on cloud lighting and atmospheric conditions will be affected by such colors".
Nota: Don Davis è molto attento e "comprensivo" verso la NASA e noi possiamo anche capirlo.
Tuttavia, a nostro modo di vedere, quando l'Ente Spaziale più moderno, famoso ed accreditato al Mondo rilascia al Pubblico, in tempi diversi (e senza precisare alcunchè), due (o più) immagini identiche le quali, però, sono state sottoposte ad una tale ri-elaborazione da apparire, alla fine, come totalmente diverse, esso fa solamente - scusateci - "casino".
In questo modo, come dimostrato nell'articolo del Dr Fienga pubblicato sul Nexus Magazine ("Gioco di Specchi"), non si rende un buon servizio nè alla Scienza, nè alla Divulgazione.
In questo modo, insomma, si fa solo confusione (per non dire che, alla fine, ci rimane pure il sospetto che il caos sia stato voluto...).
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South_Polar_Regions-2.jpgHot vortex over Venus' South Pole64 visiteESA's Venus Express has returned the first-ever images of the hothouse Planet’s South Pole from a distance of 206.452 Km, showing surprisingly clear structures and unexpected detail. The images were taken on April 12, 2006, during the spacecraft’s initial capture orbit after successful arrival on the 11th.
Engineers have lost no time in switching on several of the instruments and yesterday the VMC (Venus Monitoring Camera) and VIRTIS (Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer) imaged, for the first time in space history, the Southern Hemisphere of Venus as the spacecraft passed below the Planet in an elliptical arc.
Scientists are especially intrigued by the dark vortex shown almost directly over the South Pole, a previously suspected but until now unconfirmed structure that corresponds to a similar cloud structure over the North Pole. “Just one day after arrival, we are already experiencing the hot, dynamic environment of Venus” said Dr Hakan Svedhem, Venus Express project scientist“.
“We will see much more detail at an unprecedented level as we get over 100 times better resolution as we get closer to Venus, and we expect to see these spiral structures evolve very quickly.”
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The Rings-PIA08163-1.jpgThe "E-Ring" of Saturn: the "Enceladus Ring" (1)64 visiteThis excellent view of the faint E-Ring - a ring feature now known to be created by Enceladus - also shows two of Saturn's small moons that orbit within the Ring, among a field of stars in the background.
The E-Ring extends from three to eight Saturn radii - about 180.000 Km(such as about 118.000 miles) to 482.000 Km (about 300.000 miles). Its full extent is not visible in this view.
Calypso (22 Km, or about 14 miles across) and Helene (32 Km, or about 20 miles across) orbit within the E-Ring's expanse. Helene skirts the outer parts of the E-Ring, but here it is projected in front of a region deeper within the Ring.
Calypso and Helene are trojan satellites, or moons that orbit 60° in front or behind a larger moon. Calypso is a Tethys trojan and Helene is a trojan of Dione. An interesting feature of note in this image is the double-banded appearance of the E-Ring, which is created because the Ring is somewhat fainter in the Ring-Plane than it is 500-1000 Km (about 300-600 miles) above and below it.
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NGC-0290.jpgNGC 290 - Open Star Cluster64 visite"...Andiamo, Amici, non perdiamoci in sciocche e mendaci speculazioni e cerchiamo di essere intellettualmente onesti: tutti noi sappiamo benissimo che sono soltanto coloro che scelgono la disonestà e la scelleratezza come regole di vita - o, al limite, come eventualità accettabili e percorribili - quelli che, prima di tutelare le Vittime dell'Ingiustizia, si preoccupano di garantire i diritti degli offensori..."
P.C. Floegers - "Scritti di Cronaca e Sociale"
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SOL813-PIA08423-99.jpgWhen the Sun goes down... (10) - Sol 81364 visitenessun commento
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Jupiter-2006-19-d-xlarge_web.jpgFather and Son: Jupiter's Red Spots64 visitenessun commento
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Titan-Regions-Shikoku_Facula-PIA08426.jpgThe Brightest Region of Titan: Shikoku Facula64 visiteCaption NASA originale:"This image of Saturn's moon Titan from the Synthetic Aperture Radar Instrument on the Cassini spacecraft shows Shikoku Facula, a Region that is bright in both radar and visible wavelengths. This radar image was taken on April 30, 2006.
A circular feature with a radar-dark interior, probably an impact crater, is seen near the top of the image and is about 35 Km (about 22 miles) in diameter.
Numerous linear dark features are seen running across the image, mostly on the right-hand side. These features were seen on other radar images and interpreted as dune fields. Bright, ridge-like features mainly on the lower half of the image may be topographically "High Regions" (qualcosa di simile alle HighLands della Scozia). Radar-dark, thin, sinuous features, which may be channels draining from the bright to the dark Regions, are seen below the circular feature".
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Comets-Schwassmann_Wachmann_1-05.jpgComet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, M 57 and IC 129664 visiteAs dawn approached on May 8, 2006, astronomer Stefan Seip carefully watched Fragment "C" of broken Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 approach M 57 - the Ring Nebula, and faint spiral galaxy IC 1296.
Of course, even though the trio seemed to come close together in a truly cosmic photo opportunity, the comet is in the inner part of our Solar System, a mere 0,5 Light-Minutes (LM) or so from Seip's telescope located near Stuttgart, Germany, planet Earth.
The Ring Nebula (upper right) is more like 2000 LY distant, well within our own Milky Way Galaxy. At a distance of 200 MLY, IC 1296 (between the Comet and the Ring Nebula) is beyond even the Milky Way's boundaries. Because the Comet is so close, it appears to move relatively rapidly against the distant stars. This dramatic telescopic view was composited from two sets of images; one compensating for the Comet's apparent motion and one recording the background stars and nebulae.
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SOL855-2N202269020EFFAS00P1987L0M1.jpgMan-Made Marks - Sol 85564 visitenessun commento
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Venus-South Pole-Infrared-COB_combi_38b.jpgVortex over the South Pole of Venus (infrared vision)64 visiteDuring this first orbit – called the 'capture orbit' – some of the Venus Express instruments were used to perform the first observations at different distances from Venus, for a few hours per time on six different slots between 12 and 19 April 2006.
Amazing infrared, visible and ultraviolet images of the Venusian globe already reveal several atmospheric features of great interest.
The most striking of these is a huge, double-eye atmospheric vortex over the South Pole, not dissimilar from the equivalent structure present at the North Pole – the only one previously studied in some detail.
Only glimpses of the stormy atmospheric behaviour at the south pole were obtained by previous missions (Pioneer Venus and Mariner 10), but such a double-eye structure was never clearly seen before now.
This composite image shows six infrared views of Venus as seen by the Ultraviolet/Visible/Near-Infrared spectrometer (VIRTIS) on board ESA’s Venus Express spacecraft between 12 and 19 April 2006, during the first orbit, or ‘capture orbit’, around the planet.
The images (taken at 5 microns) were obtained at six different time slots and at different distances from Venus (top left: 12 April, from 210 000 kilometres; centre left: 13 April, from 280 000 kilometres; bottom left: 14 April, from 315 000 kilometres; top right: 16 April, from 315 000 kilometres; centre right: 17 April, from 270 000 kilometres; bottom right: 19 April, from 190 000 kilometres), while the spacecraft moved along a long ellipse around the planet.
The infrared radiation coming from Venus was converted in this reddish colour scheme. Thermal radiation comes from the lower atmosphere, (just above the cloud top, located at about 60 kilometres altitude). Solar radiation reflected by the upper atmospheric layers (roughly between 60 and 80 kilometres altitude) and thermal radiation from the layers below contribute to the brightest part of the image.
The south polar vortex structure is visible from different view points close to the centre of the images, mostly in the dark side.
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