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First Map of Alien World
Title First Map of Alien World
Description This is the first-ever map of the surface of an exoplanet, or a planet beyond our solar system. The map, which shows temperature variations across the cloudy tops of a gas giant called HD 189733b, is made up of infrared data taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Hotter temperatures are represented in brighter colors. HD 189733b is what is known as a hot-Jupiter planet. These sizzling, gas planets practically hug their stars, orbiting at distances that are much closer than Mercury is to our sun. They whip around their stars quickly, for example, HD 189733b completes one orbit in just 2.2 days. Hot Jupiters are also thought to be tidally locked to their stars, just as our moon is to Earth. This means that one side of a hot Jupiter always faces its star. As predicted, the map reveals that HD 189733b has a warm spot on its "sunlit" side, which is always pointed toward the star. But the map also shows that this spot is offset from the high-noon, or sun-facing, point by 30 degrees. According to scientists, ferocious winds traveling up to 6,000 miles per hour (nearly 9,700 kilometers per hour) are probably pushing the hot spot to the east. In addition to the warm spot, the map tells astronomers that temperatures on HD 189733b are fairly even all around. While the dark side is about 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit (650 degrees Celsius), the sunlit side is just a bit hotter at 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit (930 degrees Celsius). This mild temperature variation is more evidence for strong winds, since winds would help spread the heat from the hot, sunlit side over to the dark side. These data were collected by Spitzer's infrared array camera as the planet, a so-called transiting planet, passed in front of its star, then swung around and disappeared behind it (see animation). By observing the planet for half of its 2.2-day long orbit, Spitzer was able to measure the infrared light, or heat, coming from its entire surface. The infrared measurements, about a quarter of a million individual data points, were then assembled by scientists into pole-to-pole strips, and ultimately into the complete map shown here.
First Map of Alien World
Title First Map of Alien World
Description This is the first-ever map of the surface of an exoplanet, or a planet beyond our solar system. The map, which shows temperature variations across the cloudy tops of a gas giant called HD 189733b, is made up of infrared data taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Hotter temperatures are represented in brighter colors. HD 189733b is what is known as a hot-Jupiter planet. These sizzling, gas planets practically hug their stars, orbiting at distances that are much closer than Mercury is to our sun. They whip around their stars quickly, for example, HD 189733b completes one orbit in just 2.2 days. Hot Jupiters are also thought to be tidally locked to their stars, just as our moon is to Earth. This means that one side of a hot Jupiter always faces its star. As predicted, the map reveals that HD 189733b has a warm spot on its "sunlit" side, which is always pointed toward the star. But the map also shows that this spot is offset from the high-noon, or sun-facing, point by 30 degrees. According to scientists, ferocious winds traveling up to 6,000 miles per hour (nearly 9,700 kilometers per hour) are probably pushing the hot spot to the east. In addition to the warm spot, the map tells astronomers that temperatures on HD 189733b are fairly even all around. While the dark side is about 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit (650 degrees Celsius), the sunlit side is just a bit hotter at 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit (930 degrees Celsius). This mild temperature variation is more evidence for strong winds, since winds would help spread the heat from the hot, sunlit side over to the dark side. These data were collected by Spitzer's infrared array camera as the planet, a so-called transiting planet, passed in front of its star, then swung around and disappeared behind it (see animation). By observing the planet for half of its 2.2-day long orbit, Spitzer was able to measure the infrared light, or heat, coming from its entire surface. The infrared measurements, about a quarter of a million individual data points, were then assembled by scientists into pole-to-pole strips, and ultimately into the complete map shown here.
Neutral Gas Cloud Around Tit …
Description Here on the Gallery page you can find the very latest images, videos and products from the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn, including the spectacular launch, spacecraft assembly and the exciting trip to Saturn.
Full Description Images from the magnetospheric imaging instrument and the ion and neutral camera onboard the Cassini spacecraft reveal aspects of the interactions between Saturn's dynamic population of hot energetic ions and the clouds of cold neutral atoms. Future observations may further explain the relationships between these interactions. The most recent image of Titan reveals the emission of high-speed neutral atoms from a globular region approximately 70,000 kilometers (43,496 miles) in diameter, clearly centered on Titan. It is only 1/25 as bright as the region seen toward dawn during Saturn orbit insertion, even though Cassini is now closer to Titan. There is an extended emission region around the Titan cloud, but it is much dimmer than the Titan cloud itself and even dimmer compared to the emission seen in the dawn direction at orbit insertion. In this image, the X marks the direction toward the Sun, the Y marks the direction toward Saturn's dawn, and the Z marks Saturn's rotation axis. The dot in the center marks Titan. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The magnetospheric imaging instrument team is based at Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, Md. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the instrument team's home page, http://sd-www.jhuapl.edu/CASSINI/index.html . Image Credit: NASA/JPL/JHU/APL/Max-Plank-Institut f¿r Aeronomie/University of Maryland/University of Kansas/University of Arizona/CESR/Bell Laboratories
Titan Descent Data Movie wit …
Description Here on the Gallery page you can find the very latest images, videos and products from the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn, including the spectacular launch, spacecraft assembly and the exciting trip to Saturn.
Full Description This movie, built with data collected during the European Space Agency's Huygens probe on Jan. 14, 2005, shows the operation of the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer camera during its descent and after touchdown. The camera was funded by NASA. The almost four-hour-long operation of the camera is shown in less than five minutes. That's 40 times the actual speed up to landing and 100 times the actual speed thereafter. The first part of the movie shows how Titan looked to the camera as it acquired more and more images during the probe's descent. Each image has a small field of view, and dozens of images were made into mosaics of the whole scene. The scientists analyzed Huygens' speed, direction of motion, rotation and swinging during the descent. The movie includes sidebar graphics that show: * (Lower left corner) Huygens' trajectory views from the south, a scale bar for comparison to the height of Mount Everest, colored arrows that point to the sun and to the Cassini orbiter. * (Top left corner) A close-up view of the Huygens probe highlighting large and unexpected parachute movements, a scale bar for comparison to human height. * (Lower right corner) A compass that shows the changing direction of view as Huygens rotates, along with the relative positions of the sun and Cassini. * (Upper right corner) A clock that shows Universal Time for Jan. 14, 2005 (Universal Time is 7 hours ahead of Pacific Daylight Time). Above the clock, events are listed in mission time, which starts with the deployment of the first of the three parachutes. Sounds from a left speaker trace Huygens' motion, with tones changing with rotational speed and the tilt of the parachute. There also are clicks that clock the rotational counter, as well as sounds for the probe's heat shield hitting Titan's atmosphere, parachute deployments, heat shield release, jettison of the camera cover and touchdown. Sounds from a right speaker go with the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer activity. There's a continuous tone that represents the strength of Huygens' signal to Cassini. Then there are 13 different chimes - one for each of instrument's 13 different science parts - that keep time with flashing-white-dot exposure counters. During its descent, the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer took 3,500 exposures. The Huygens probe was delivered to Saturn's moon Titan by the Cassini spacecraft, which is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. NASA supplied two instruments on the probe, the descent imager/spectral radiometer and the gas chromatograph mass spectrometer. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The descent imager/spectral radiometer team is based at the University of Arizona, Tucson. For, more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . Credit: ESA/NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Saturn's Rings in Infrared
Description Saturn's Rings in Infrared
Full Description This mosaic of Saturn's rings was acquired by Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer instrument on Sept. 15, 2006, while the spacecraft was in the shadow of the planet looking back towards the rings from a distance of 2.16 million kilometers (1.34 million miles). Data at wavelengths of 1.0 micron, 1.75 micron and 3.6 microns were combined in the blue, green and red channels to make the pseudo-color image shown here. The brightest feature in the mosaic is the F ring, located at the outer edge of the main rings. The F ring is overexposed and appears white in this image. Of the main A, B and C rings, the C ring is the most prominent and reddish in color, becoming saturated close to the sun. The more opaque A and B rings are muddy in color and very dark in this geometry. By contrast, the normally faint D ring, located just interior to the C ring, is quite bright and blue, indicating the presence of very small ring particles. Similarly, a narrow, green ringlet in the Cassini Division, as well as the greenish G ring and blue E ring -- located at increasing distances outside the F ring -- are predominantly composed of small particles. The faint reddish band immediately outside the F ring is likely to be an artifact caused by the extremely bright F ring. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team is based at the University of Arizona where this image was produced. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team homepage is at http://wwwvims.lpl.arizona.edu . Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Date October 11, 2006
Saturn's Silhouetted Clouds
Description Saturn's Silhouetted Clouds
Full Description This false-color mosaic of Saturn shows deep-level clouds silhouetted against Saturn's glowing interior. The image was made with data from Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer, which can image the planet at 352 different wavelengths. This mosaic shows the entire planet, including features like Saturn's ring shadows and the terminator, the boundary between day and night. The data were obtained in February 2006 at a distance of 1.6 million kilometers (1 million miles) from directly over the plane of Saturn's rings, which appear here as a thin, blue line over the equator. The image was constructed from images taken at wavelengths of 1.07 microns shown in blue, 2.71 microns shown in green, and 5.02 microns shown in red. The blue-green color (lower right) is sunlight scattered off clouds high in Saturn's atmosphere and the red color (upper left) is the glow of thermal radiation from Saturn's warm interior, easily seen on Saturn's night side (top left), within the shadow of the rings, and with somewhat less contrast on Saturn's day side (bottom right). The darker areas within Saturn show the strongest thermal radiation. The bright red color indicates areas where Saturn's atmosphere is relatively clear. The great variety of cloud shapes and sizes reveals a surprisingly active planet below the overlying sun-scattering haze. The brighter glow of the northern hemisphere versus the southern indicates that the clouds and hazes there are noticeably thinner than those in the south. Scientists speculate that this is a seasonal effect, and if so, it will change as the northern hemisphere enters springtime during the next few years. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer team is based at the University of Arizona where this image was produced. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm . The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team homepage is at http://wwwvims.lpl.arizona.edu . Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Date October 5, 2006
Neon Saturn
Description Neon Saturn
Full Description Flying over the unlit side of Saturn's rings, the Cassini spacecraft captures Saturn's glow, represented in brilliant shades of electric blue, sapphire and mint green, while the planet's shadow casts a wide net on the rings. This striking false-color mosaic was created from 25 images taken by Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer over a period of 13 hours, and captures Saturn in nighttime and daytime conditions. The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer acquires data simultaneously at 352 different wavelengths, or spectral channels. Data at wavelengths of 2.3, 3.0 and 5.1 microns were combined in the blue, green and red channels of a standard color image, respectively, to make this false-color mosaic. This image was acquired on Feb. 24, 2007, while the spacecraft was 1.58 million kilometers (1 million miles) from the planet and 34.6 degrees above the ring plane. The solar phase angle was 69.5 degrees. In this view, Cassini was looking down on the northern, unlit side of the rings, which are rendered visible by sunlight filtering through from the sunlit, southern face. On the night side (right side of image), with no sunlight, Saturn's own thermal radiation lights things up. This light at 5.1 microns wavelength (some seven times the longest wavelength visible to the human eye) is generated deep within Saturn, and works its way upward, eventually escaping into space. Thick clouds deep in the atmosphere block that light. An amazing array of dark streaks, spots, and globe-encircling bands is visible instead. Saturn's strong thermal glow at 5.1 microns even allows these deep clouds to be seen on portions of the dayside (left side), especially where overlying hazes are thin and the glint of the sun off of them is minimal. These deep clouds are likely made of ammonium hydrosulfide and cannot be seen in reflected light on the dayside, since the glint of the sun on overlying hazes and ammonia clouds blocks the view of this level. A pronounced difference in the brightness between the northern and southern hemispheres is apparent. The northern hemisphere is about twice as bright as the southern hemisphere. This is because high-level, fine particles are about half as prevalent in the northern hemisphere as in the south. These particles block Saturn's glow more strongly, making Saturn look brighter in the north. At 2.3 microns (shown in blue), the icy ring particles are highly reflecting, while methane gas in Saturn's atmosphere strongly absorbs sunlight and renders the planet very dark. At 3.0 microns (shown in green), the situation is reversed: water ice in the rings is strongly absorbing, while the planet's sunlit hemisphere is bright. Thus the rings appear blue in this representation, while the sunlit side of Saturn is greenish-yellow in color. Within the rings, the most opaque parts appear dark, while the more translucent regions are brighter. In particular, the opaque, normally-bright B ring appears here as a broad, dark band, separating the brighter A (outer) and C (inner) rings. At 5.1 microns (shown in red), reflected sunlight is weak and thus light from the planet is dominated by thermal (i.e., heat) radiation that wells up from the planet's deep atmosphere. This thermal emission dominates Saturn's dark side as well as the north polar region (where the hexagon is again visible) and the shadow cast by the A and B rings. Variable amounts of clouds in the planet's upper atmosphere block the thermal radiation, leading to a speckled and banded appearance, which is ever-shifting due to the planet's strong winds. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer team is based at the University of Arizona, where this image was produced. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm. The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team homepage is at http://wwwvims.lpl.arizona.edu. *Credit:* NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Date May 31, 2007
Cat's eye rings and peek-a-b …
Description On Aug. 16, 2006, as the Cassini orbiter flew directly between the sun and Saturn, its Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer captured a sequence of images that vividly show this opposition brightening.
Full Description Astronomers have long known that Saturn's rings reflect sunlight most strongly when Earth is located directly between Saturn and the sun. Flat, shiny surfaces (like a mirror or a pond) can appear particularly bright when light reflects off them in a certain direction. Scientists call this "specular reflection," from the Latin word for mirror. However, even rough surfaces, like those of Earth's moon or Saturn's rings, can appear bright when the source of light is directly behind the observer's head, no matter what the orientation of the surface is. This latter phenomenon is known as the "opposition effect." Spectacular examples include the eyes of a cat, which seem to glow brightly when they are illuminated by a flashlight, or highway signs and reflectors that "light up" when they are caught in a car's headlights. On Aug. 16, 2006, as the Cassini orbiter flew directly between the sun and Saturn, its Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer captured a sequence of images that vividly show this opposition brightening. Combined here into a mosaic, the images show -- from left to right -- a small, bright spot moving from the outermost B ring across the Cassini Division and all the way across the A ring. In each image, this spot is centered on the point in the rings directly opposite the sun. Theoretical models for the opposition effect suggest that it can be explained by light being scattered several times within the surfaces of individual, transparent, icy ring particles on scales of about 40 micrometers, or 1/500th of an inch. Similar effects are seen in laboratory studies of bright, finely-textured material such as snow or sugar crystals. In this mosaic, blue colors highlight the icy rings (2.35 microns), green represents sunlight reflected by the clouds of Saturn (2.86 microns) and red depicts thermal emission from the planet's interior (5.02 microns). The rings were observed while they were in front of the planet, producing a complex interplay of sunlight reflected from the rings and the shadows cast by the rings on the cloud tops of Saturn. The yellow-green sunlit clouds of Saturn are seen in the upper right corner of the mosaic beyond the outer edge of the A ring, and also through the 4,000-kilometer-wide (2,400 mile) Cassini Division in the left third of the mosaic. (Yellow indicates a mixture of reflected sunlight and thermal emission.) The shadowed regions of the planet, on the other hand, appear deep red because only thermal emission produced deep inside Saturn itself is visible. At exact opposition, the shadows of the rings are hidden behind the rings themselves, but away from this point shadows can be seen peeking out from behind the edges of the A and B rings into the Cassini Division, as well as beyond the outer edge of the A ring. If one looks closely, one can even trace the A ring's shadow behind the partly transparent A ring, as a faint purple band. Within this band, a thin blue-green line crossing obliquely behind the A ring is, caused by sunlight passing through the narrow Encke Gap in the outer A ring. The Cassini spacecraft was at a distance of 254,000 kilometers (157,800 miles) from the center of Saturn when these images were taken, while the opening angle of the rings to the sun was 16.3 degrees. The image scale at the rings is approximately 70 kilometers (40 miles) per pixel. All nine images were taken over a period of 27 minutes, and the vertical dimension of the mosaic is 1.8 degrees. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer team is based at the University of Arizona, where this image was produced. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm. The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team home page is at: http://wwwvims.lpl.arizona.edu . Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Date June 26, 2007
Cat's eye rings and peek-a-b …
Description On Aug. 16, 2006, as the Cassini orbiter flew directly between the sun and Saturn, its Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer captured a sequence of images that vividly show this opposition brightening.
Full Description See also the non-annotated version. Astronomers have long known that Saturn's rings reflect sunlight most strongly when Earth is located directly between Saturn and the sun. Flat, shiny surfaces (like a mirror or a pond) can appear particularly bright when light reflects off them in a certain direction. Scientists call this "specular reflection," from the Latin word for mirror. However, even rough surfaces, like those of Earth's moon or Saturn's rings, can appear bright when the source of light is directly behind the observer's head, no matter what the orientation of the surface is. This latter phenomenon is known as the "opposition effect." Spectacular examples include the eyes of a cat, which seem to glow brightly when they are illuminated by a flashlight, or highway signs and reflectors that "light up" when they are caught in a car's headlights. On Aug. 16, 2006, as the Cassini orbiter flew directly between the sun and Saturn, its Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer captured a sequence of images that vividly show this opposition brightening. Combined here into a mosaic, the images show -- from left to right -- a small, bright spot moving from the outermost B ring across the Cassini Division and all the way across the A ring. In each image, this spot is centered on the point in the rings directly opposite the sun. Theoretical models for the opposition effect suggest that it can be explained by light being scattered several times within the surfaces of individual, transparent, icy ring particles on scales of about 40 micrometers, or 1/500th of an inch. Similar effects are seen in laboratory studies of bright, finely-textured material such as snow or sugar crystals. In this mosaic, blue colors highlight the icy rings (2.35 microns), green represents sunlight reflected by the clouds of Saturn (2.86 microns) and red depicts thermal emission from the planet's interior (5.02 microns). The rings were observed while they were in front of the planet, producing a complex interplay of sunlight reflected from the rings and the shadows cast by the rings on the cloud tops of Saturn. The yellow-green sunlit clouds of Saturn are seen in the upper right corner of the mosaic beyond the outer edge of the A ring, and also through the 4,000-kilometer-wide (2,400 mile) Cassini Division in the left third of the mosaic. (Yellow indicates a mixture of reflected sunlight and thermal emission.) The shadowed regions of the planet, on the other hand, appear deep red because only thermal emission produced deep inside Saturn itself is visible. At exact opposition, the shadows of the rings are hidden behind the rings themselves, but away from this point shadows can be seen peeking out from behind the edges of the A and B rings into the Cassini Division, as well as beyond the outer edge of the A ring. If one looks closely, one can even trace the A ring's shadow behind the partly transparent A ring, as a faint purple band. Within this band, a thin blue-green line, crossing obliquely behind the A ring is caused by sunlight passing through the narrow Encke Gap in the outer A ring. The Cassini spacecraft was at a distance of 254,000 kilometers (157,800 miles) from the center of Saturn when these images were taken, while the opening angle of the rings to the sun was 16.3 degrees. The image scale at the rings is approximately 70 kilometers (40 miles) per pixel. All nine images were taken over a period of 27 minutes, and the vertical dimension of the mosaic is 1.8 degrees. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer team is based at the University of Arizona, where this image was produced. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm. The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team home page is at: http://wwwvims.lpl.arizona.edu . Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Date June 26, 2007
Description Here on the Gallery page you can find the very latest images, videos and products from the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn, including the spectacular launch, spacecraft assembly and the exciting trip to Saturn.
Full Description The familiar banded appearance of Jupiter at low and middle latitudes gradually gives way to a more mottled appearance at high latitudes in this striking true color image taken Dec. 13, 2000, by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The intricate structures seen in the polar region are clouds of different chemical composition, height and thickness. Clouds are organized by winds, and the mottled appearance in the polar regions suggests more vortex-type motion and winds of less vigor at higher latitudes. The cause of this difference is not understood. One possible contributor is that the horizontal component of the Coriolis force, which arises from the planet's rotation and is responsible for curving the trajectories of ocean currents and winds on Earth, has its greatest effect at high latitudes and vanishes at the equator. This tends to create small, intense vortices at high latitudes on Jupiter. Another possibility may lie in that fact that Jupiter overall emits nearly as much of its own heat as it absorbs from the Sun, and this internal heat flux is very likely greater at the poles. This condition could lead to enhanced convection at the poles and more vortex-type structures. Further analysis of Cassini images, including analysis of sequences taken over a span of time, should help us understand the cause of equator-to-pole differences in cloud organization and evolution. By the time this picture was taken, Cassini had reached close enough to Jupiter to allow the spacecraft to return images with more detail than what's possible with the planetary camera on NASA's Earth-orbiting Hubble Space Telescope. The resolution here is 114 kilometers (71 miles) per pixel. This contrast-enhanced, edge-sharpened frame was composited from images take at different wavelengths with Cassini's narrow-angle camera, from a distance of 19 million kilometers (11.8 million miles). The spacecraft was in almost a direct line between the Sun and Jupiter, so the solar illumination on Jupiter is almost full phase. Cassini is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona For higher resolution, click here.
Description Here on the Gallery page you can find the very latest images, videos and products from the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn, including the spectacular launch, spacecraft assembly and the exciting trip to Saturn.
Full Description This sequence of nine true-color, narrow-angle images shows the varying appearance of Jupiter as it rotated through more than a complete 360-degree turn. The smallest features seen in this sequence are no bigger than about 380 kilometers (about 236 miles). Rotating more than twice as fast as Earth, Jupiter completes one rotation in about 10 hours. These images were taken on Oct. 22 and 23, 2000. From image to image (proceeding left to right across each row and then down to the next row), cloud features on Jupiter move from left to right before disappearing over the edge onto the nightside of the planet. The most obvious Jovian feature is the Great Red Spot, which can be seen moving onto the dayside in the third frame (below and to the left of the center of the planet). In the fourth frame, taken about 1 hour and 40 minutes later, the Great Red Spot has been carried by the planet's rotation to the east and does not appear again until the final frame, which was taken one complete rotation after the third frame. Unlike weather systems on Earth, which change markedly from day to day, large cloud systems in Jupiter's colder, thicker atmosphere are long-lived, so the two frames taken one rotation apart have a very similar appearance. However, when this sequence of images is eventually animated, strong winds blowing eastward at some latitudes and westward at other latitudes will be readily apparent. The results of such differential motions can be seen even in the still frames shown here. For example, the clouds of the Great Red Spot rotate counterclockwise. The strong westward winds northeast of the Great Red Spot are deflected around the spot and form a wake of turbulent clouds downstream (visible in the fourth image), just as a rock in a rapidly flowing river deflects the fluid around it. The equatorial zone on Jupiter is currently bright white, indicating the presence of clouds much like cirrus clouds on Earth, but made of ammonia instead of water ice. This is very different from Jupiter's appearance 20 years ago, when the equatorial zone was more of a brownish cast similar to the region just to its north. At the northern edge of the equatorial zone, local regions colored a dark grayish-blue are places where the ammonia clouds have cleared allowing a view to deeper levels in Jupiter's atmosphere. Interrupting these relatively clear regions is a series of bright arrow-shaped equatorial plumes. The most obvious one is visible just above and to the right of center in the third and ninth frames. These plumes resemble the `anvil' clouds that accompany common summer thunderstorms on Earth, although the Jovian plumes are much bigger, and their somewhat regular spacing around the planet suggests an association with a planetary-scale wave motion. The southwest-northeast tilt of these plumes suggests that the winds in this region act to help maintain the eastward winds at this latitude. In the dark belt north of the equatorial zone, a turbulent, region with a white filamentary cloud is visible in the sixth frame, indicating rapidly changing wind direction. Several white ovals are visible at higher southern latitudes (toward the bottom of the fourth, fifth, and sixth frames, for example). These ovals, like the Great Red Spot, rotate counterclockwise and are similar in some respects to high-pressure systems on Earth. When these images were taken, Cassini was about 3.3 degrees above Jupiter's equatorial plane, and the Sun-Jupiter-spacecraft angle was about 20 degrees. JPL manages the Cassini mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPl is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona. (PIA02825A) For higher resolution, click here.
Description Cassini's Farewell to Jupiter
Full Description Cassini's Farewell to Jupiter On January 15, 2001, 17 days after it passed its closest approach to Jupiter, NASA's Cassini spacecraft looked back to see the giant planet as a thinning crescent. This image is a color mosaic from that day, shot from a distance of 18.3 million kilometers (11.4 million miles). The smallest visible features are roughly 110 kilometers (70 miles) across. The solar phase angle, the angle from the spacecraft to the planet to the Sun, is 120 degrees. A crescent Io, innermost of Jupiter's four large moons, appears to the left of Jupiter. Cassini collected its last Jupiter images on March 22, 2001, as the spacecraft continued the final leg of its journey to a July 1, 2004, appointment with Saturn. Cassini is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., manages Cassini for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona For higher resolution, click here.
A New View of Saturn -- Blac …
Description A New View of Saturn Black and White
Full Description New images provided by the visual infrared mapping spectrometer on the Cassini spacecraft reveal a diverse array of clouds in the depths of Saturn. This new view on the right side shows clouds at an altitude where pressure is nearly 2-bar. (A bar is a unit of atmospheric pressure equivalent to Earth's sea-level atmospheric pressure.) These clouds are about 30 kilometers (19 miles) underneath the clouds usually observed on Saturn. This is distinctly different from the typical view of Saturn in reflected sunlight, shown on the left. The left view is characterized by broad expanses of clouds near the 1-bar level, such as the white cloud seen circling the equator, with little hint of the discrete cloud complexes lying underneath. This new view was obtained at the 5-micron wavelength, using Saturn's own thermal radiation emanating from Saturn's interior as the light source instead of the Sun. Clouds at the 2-bar depth block this upwelling radiation to varying degrees, depending on the thickness of the cloud. At the 5-micron wavelength, the instrument sees such clouds as relatively dark areas in its view of Saturn. To render them visible as white clouds in the image shown on the right, the original view was photographically inverted. This technique enables clouds to be imaged across the globe, under both daytime and nighttime conditions. The images are also unaffected by shadowing from Saturn's immense ring system, unlike the left-hand image which has much of the northern hemisphere covered by ring shadow. These images were acquired by Cassini's visual infrared mapping spectrometer on June 28, 2005, at a distance of 1.2 million kilometers (745,645 miles), and at a solar phase angle of 102 degrees. The image on the left was taken in reflected sunlight at 0.90 micron wavelength. The image on the right was taken in Saturn's thermal radiation at 5.1 micron wavelength, with the brightness inverted to reveal clouds as white and atmospheric clearings as dark. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team is based at the University of Arizona. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov. The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team homepage is at http://wwwvims.lpl.arizona.edu. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Date September 5, 2005
A New View of Saturn
Description A New View of Saturn
Full Description New images provided by the visual infrared mapping spectrometer on the Cassini spacecraft reveal a diverse array of clouds in the depths of Saturn. This new view on the right side shows clouds at an altitude where pressure is nearly 2 bar. A bar is a unit of atmospheric pressure equivalent to Earth's sea-level atmospheric pressure. These clouds are about 30 kilometers (19 miles) underneath the clouds usually observed on Saturn. This is distinctly different from the typical view of Saturn in reflected sunlight, shown on the left. The left view is characterized by broad expanses of clouds near the 1-bar level, such as the white cloud seen circling the equator, with little hint of the discrete cloud complexes lying underneath. This new view was obtained at the 5-micron wavelength, using Saturn's own thermal radiation emanating from Saturn's interior as the light source instead of the Sun. Clouds at the 2-bar depth block this upwelling radiation to varying degrees, depending on the thickness of the cloud. At the 5-micron wavelength, the instrument sees such clouds as relatively dark areas in its view of Saturn. To render them visible as white clouds in the image shown on the right, the original view was photographically inverted. This technique enables clouds to be imaged across the globe, under both daytime and nighttime conditions. The images are also unaffected by shadowing from Saturn¿s immense ring system, unlike the left-hand image which has much of the northern hemisphere covered by ring shadow. These images were acquired by Cassini's visual infrared mapping spectrometer on June 28, 2005, at a distance of 1.2 million kilometers (745,645 miles), and at a solar phase angle of 102 degrees. The color composite on the left comprises three images taken at different wavelengths: 2.79 micron (red), 1.60 micron (green), and 2.05 micron (blue). The image on the right was taken at 5.1 micron wavelength, with the brightness inverted to reveal clouds as white and atmospheric clearings as dark. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team is based at the University of Arizona. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov. The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team homepage is at http://wwwvims.lpl.arizona.edu. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Date September 5, 2005
Titan Descent Data Movie wit …
Description Here on the Gallery page you can find the very latest images, videos and products from the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn, including the spectacular launch, spacecraft assembly and the exciting trip to Saturn.
Full Description This movie, built with data collected during the European Space Agency's Huygens probe on Jan. 14, 2005, shows the operation of the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer camera during its descent and after touchdown. The camera was funded by NASA. The almost four-hour-long operation of the camera is shown in less than five minutes. That's 40 times the actual speed up to landing and 100 times the actual speed thereafter. The first part of the movie shows how Titan looked to the camera as it acquired more and more images during the probe's descent. Each image has a small field of view, and dozens of images were made into mosaics of the whole scene. The scientists analyzed Huygens' speed, direction of motion, rotation and swinging during the descent. The movie includes sidebar graphics that show: * (Lower left corner) Huygens' trajectory views from the south, a scale bar for comparison to the height of Mount Everest, colored arrows that point to the sun and to the Cassini orbiter. * (Top left corner) A close-up view of the Huygens probe highlighting large and unexpected parachute movements, a scale bar for comparison to human height. * (Lower right corner) A compass that shows the changing direction of view as Huygens rotates, along with the relative positions of the sun and Cassini. * (Upper right corner) A clock that shows Universal Time for Jan. 14, 2005 (Universal Time is 7 hours ahead of Pacific Daylight Time). Above the clock, events are listed in mission time, which starts with the deployment of the first of the three parachutes. Sounds from a left speaker trace Huygens' motion, with tones changing with rotational speed and the tilt of the parachute. There also are clicks that clock the rotational counter, as well as sounds for the probe's heat shield hitting Titan's atmosphere, parachute deployments, heat shield release, jettison of the camera cover and touchdown. Sounds from a right speaker go with the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer activity. There's a continuous tone that represents the strength of Huygens' signal to Cassini. Then there are 13 different chimes - one for each of instrument's 13 different science parts - that keep time with flashing-white-dot exposure counters. During its descent, the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer took 3,500 exposures. The Huygens probe was delivered to Saturn's moon Titan by the Cassini spacecraft, which is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. NASA supplied two instruments on the probe, the descent imager/spectral radiometer and the gas chromatograph mass spectrometer. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The descent imager/spectral radiometer team is based at the University of Arizona, Tucson. For, more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . Credit: ESA/NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Description Here on the Gallery page you can find the very latest images, videos and products from the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn, including the spectacular launch, spacecraft assembly and the exciting trip to Saturn.
Full Description Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., manages the Cassini mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona (PIA02826) For higher resolution, click here., These two images, taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, show Jupiter in a near-infrared wavelength, and catch Europa, one of Jupiter's largest moons, at different phases. Cassini's narrow-angle camera took both images, the upper one from a distance of 69.9 million kilometers (43.4 million miles) on Oct. 17, 2000, and the lower one from a distance of 65.1 million kilometers (40.4 million miles) on Oct. 22, 2000. Both were taken at a wavelength of 727 nanometers, which is in the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The camera's 727-nanometer filter accepts only a narrow spectral range centered on a relatively strong absorption feature due to methane gas. In this spectral region, the amount of light reflected by Jupiter's clouds is only half that reflected in a nearby spectral region outside the methane band. The features that are brightest in these images are the highest and thickest clouds, such as the Great Red Spot and the band of clouds girding the equator, as these scatter sunlight back to space before it has a chance to be absorbed by the methane gas in the atmosphere. This stratigraphic effect can be seen even more prominently in an image released on Oct. 23, 2000, taken in the stronger methane band at 889 nanometers, in which the only bright features are the highest hazes over the equator, the poles and the Great Red Spot. By comparing images taken in the 727 nanometer filter with others taken at 889 nanometers and at a weaker methane band at 619 nanometers, researchers will probe the heights and thickness of clouds in Jupiter's atmosphere. Europa, a satellite of Jupiter about the size of Earth's Moon, is visible to the left of Jupiter in the upper image, and in front of the planet in the lower image. Another of Jupiter's Galilean satellites, Ganymede, which is larger than the planet Mercury, is to the right in the upper image, with brightness variations visible across its surface. In the upper image, Europa is caught entering Jupiter's shadow, and hence appears as a bright crescent, in the lower image, it is seen about one-and-a-half orbits later, in transit across the face of the planet. Because there is neither methane nor any strong absorber in this spectral region on the surface of Europa, it appears strikingly white and bright compared to Jupiter. Imaging observations of the moons Europa, Io and Ganymede entering and passing through Jupiter's shadow are planned for the two-week period surrounding Cassini's closest approach on Dec. 30, 2000. The purpose of these eclipse observations is to detect and measure the variability of emissions that arise from the interaction of the satellites' tenuous atmospheres with the charged particles trapped in Jupiter's magnetic field. At the times these images were taken, Cassini was about 3.3 degrees above Jupiter's equatorial plane, and the Sun-Jupiter-spacecraft angle was about 20 degrees. Cassini is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian
Victoria Crater' at Meridian …
title Victoria Crater' at Meridiani Planum
date 10.06.2006
description This image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows "Victoria crater," an impact crater at Meridiani Planum, near the equator of Mars. The crater is approximately 800 meters (half a mile) in diameter. It has a distinctive scalloped shape to its rim, caused by erosion and downhill movement of crater wall material. Layered sedimentary rocks are exposed along the inner wall of the crater, and boulders that have fallen from the crater wall are visible on the crater floor. The floor of the crater is occupied by a striking field of sand dunes. Since January 2004, the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has been operating at Meridiani Planum. Five days before this image was taken, Opportunity arrived at the rim of Victoria crater, after a drive of more than 9 kilometers (over 5 miles). The rover can be seen in this image, at roughly the "ten o'clock" position along the rim of the crater. This view is a portion of an image taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on Oct. 3, 2006. The complete image is centered at minus7.8 degrees latitude, 279.5 degrees East longitude. The range to the target site was 297 kilometers (185.6 miles). At this distance the image scale is 29.7 centimeters (12 inches) per pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects about 89 centimeters (35 inches) across are resolved. The image shown here has been map-projected to 25 centimeters (10 inches) per pixel and north is up. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 3:30 PM and the scene is illuminated from the west with a solar incidence angle of 59.7 degrees, thus the sun was about 30.3 degrees above the horizon. At a solar longitude of 113.6 degrees, the season on Mars is northern summer. This is an enhanced-color view generated from images acquired by the HiRISE camera using its red filter and blue-green filter. Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mroor http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/UA
Charon Discovery Image
title Charon Discovery Image
date 06.22.1978
description On 22 June 1978, an astronomer at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. was making routine measurements of photographic plates taken with the 1.55-meter (61-inch) Kaj Strand Astrometric Reflector at the USNO Flagstaff Station in Arizona. The purpose of these images was to refine the orbit of the far-flung planet Pluto to help compute a better ephemeris for this distant object. Astronomer James W. Christy had noticed that a number of the images of Pluto appeared elongated, but images of background stars on the same plate did not. Other plates showed the planet as a tiny, round dot. Christy examined a number of Pluto images from the USNO archives, and he noticed the elongations again. Furthermore, the elongations appeared to change position with respect to the stars over time. After eliminating the possibility that the elongations were produced by plate defects and background stars, the only plausible explanation was that they were caused by a previously unknown moon orbiting Pluto at a distance of about 19,600 kilometers (12,100 miles) with a period of just over six days. On 7 July 1978, the discovery was formally announced to the astronomical community and the world by the IAU Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams via IAU Circular 3241. The discovery received the provisional designation "1978 P 1", Christy proposed the name "Charon", after the mythological ferryman who carried souls across the river Acheron, one of the five mythical rivers that surrounded Pluto's underworld. Over the course of the next several years, another USNO astronomer, the late Robert S. Harrington, calculated that Pluto and its newly-found moon would undergo a series of mutual eclipses and occultations, beginning in early 1985. On 17 February 1985 the first successful observation of one of these transits was made at with the 0.9-meter (36-inch) reflector at the University of Texas McDonald Observatory, within 40 minutes of Harrington's predicted time. The IAU Circular announcing these confirming observations was issued on 22 February 1985. With this confirmation, the new moon was officially named Charon. Pluto was discovered at Lowell Observatory in 1930 by the late Clyde W. Tombaugh, an amateur astronomer from Kansas who was hired by the Observatory specifically to photograph the sky with a special camera and search for the planet predicted by the Observatory's founder, Percival Lowell. Lowell had deduced the existence of a "Planet X" by studying small anomalies in the orbits of Uranus and Neptune. As it turned out, Pluto's discovery was almost entirely serendipitous, Pluto's tiny mass was far too small to account for the anomalies, which were resolved when Voyager 2 determined more precise masses for Uranus and Neptune. The discovery of Charon has led to a much better understanding of just how tiny Pluto is. Its diameter is about 2274 km (1413 miles), and its mass is 0.25% of the mass of the Earth. Charon has a diameter of about 1172 kilometers (728, miles) and a mass of about 22% that of Pluto. The two worlds circle their common center of mass with a period of 6.387 days and are locked in a "super-synchronous" rotation: observers on Pluto's surface would always see Charon in the same part of the sky relative to their local horizon. Normally Pluto is considered the most distant world in the solar system, but during the period from January 1979 until February 1999 it was actually closer to the Sun than Neptune. It has the most eccentric and inclinced orbit of any of the major planets. This orbit won't bring Pluto back to its discovery position until the year 2178! *Image Credit*: U.S. Naval Observatory
Close-Up of Sol 24 Sunset
title Close-Up of Sol 24 Sunset
description This is a close-up of the sunset on Sol 24 as seen by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder. The red sky in the background and the blue around the Sun are approximately as they would appear to the human eye. The color of the Sun itself is not correct -- the Sun was overexposed in each of the 3 color images that were used to make this picture. The true color of the Sun itself may be near white or slightly bluish. Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator. *Image Credit*: NASA
A Giant Star Factory in Neig …
Title A Giant Star Factory in Neighboring Galaxy NGC 6822
General Information What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. Back to top [ #top ]
Firestorm of Star Birth Seen …
Title Firestorm of Star Birth Seen in a Local Galaxy
General Information What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. Back to top [ #top ]
Saturn Seen from Far and Nea …
Title Saturn Seen from Far and Near
Hubble Sees 'Comet Galaxy' B …
Title Hubble Sees 'Comet Galaxy' Being Ripped Apart By Galaxy Cluster
COBE Dipole: Speeding Throug …
Title COBE Dipole: Speeding Through the Universe
Explanation Our Earth is not at rest. The Earth moves around the Sun. The Sun orbits the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. The Milky Way Galaxy orbits in the Local Group. The Local Group falls toward the Virgo Cluster of Galaxies. But these speeds are less than the speed that all of these objects together move relative to the microwave background. In the above all-sky map, radiation in the Earth's direction of motion appears blueshifted and hence hotter, while radiation on the opposite side of the sky is redshifted and colder. The map indicates that the Local Group moves at about 600 kilometers per second relative to this primordial radiation. This high speed was initially unexpected and its magnitude is still unexplained. Why are we moving so fast? What is out there?
ASI/MET - 3D
Title ASI/MET - 3D
Description The Atmospheric Structure Instrument/Meteorology Package (ASI/MET) is the mast and windsocks at the center of this color image, taken in stereo by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) on Sol 3. The instrument appears in two different sections due to image parallax. The ASI/MET is an engineering subsytem that acquired atmospheric data during Pathfinder's descent, and will continue to get more data through the entire landed mission. The windsocks are seen pointing almost completely up, representing little wind movement at the three locations of the windsocks. A rock at left holds a shadow of the ASI/MET, indicating the sun's position is at the rear right. Portions of a lander petal and deflated airbag are visible, in addition to several rocks of varying sizes in the distance. Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator. *Click below to see the left and right views individually.*[figure removed for brevity, see original site] Left [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Right
Date 07.11.1997
New Mars Camera's First Imag …
title New Mars Camera's First Image of Mars from Mapping Orbit
Description The high resolution camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured its first image of Mars in the mapping orbit, demonstrating the full resolution capability, on Sept. 29, 2006. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) acquired this image at 8:16 AM (Pacific Time), and parts of the image became available to the HiRISE team at 1:30 PM. With the spacecraft at an altitude of 280 kilometers (174 miles), the image scale is 29.7 centimeters per pixel (about 12 inches per pixel). This sub-image covers a small portion of the floor of Ius Chasma, one branch of the giant Valles Marineris system of canyons. The image illustrates a variety of processes that have shaped the Martian surface. There are bedrock exposures of layered materials, which could be sedimentary rocks deposited in water or from the air. Some of the bedrock has been faulted and folded, perhaps the result of large-scale forces in the crust or from a giant landslide. The darker unit of material at right includes many rocks. The image resolves rocks as small as small as 90 centimeters (3 feet) in diameter. At bottom right are a few dunes or ridges of windblown sand. If a person was located on this part of Mars, he or she would just barely be visible in this image. Image TRA_000823_1720 was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on September 29, 2006. Shown here is a small portion of the full image. The full image is centered at minus 7.8 degrees latitude, 279.5 degrees East longitude. The image is oriented such that north is to the top. The range to the target site was 297 kilometers (185.6 miles). At this distance the image scale is 29.7 centimeters per pixel (with one-by-one binning) so objects about 89 centimeters (35 inches) across are resolved. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 3:30 PM and the scene is illuminated from the west with a solar incidence angle of 59.7 degrees, thus the sun was about 30.3 degrees above the horizon. At an LsubS of 113.6 degrees, the season on Mars is Northern Summer / Southern Winter. Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro [ http://www.nasa.gov/mro ] or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu [ http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu ]. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov [ http://www.nasa.gov ]. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. Credit: NASA/JPL/UA
Landscape West of Bosporos R …
title Landscape West of Bosporos Rupes
Description This image was taken in the mid-latitudes of Mars' southern hemisphere near the giant Argyre impact basin. It is located just to the west of a prominent scarp known as Bosporos Rupes. The left side of the image shows cratered plains. Some of the craters are heavily mantled and indistinct, whereas others exhibit sharp rims and dramatic topography. The largest crater in this half of the image is about 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) wide. Mounds and ridges, which may be remnants of an ice-rich deposit, are visible on its floor. Three sinuous valleys occupy the center of the image. Valleys such as these were first observed in data returned by the NASA Mariner 9 spacecraft, which reached Mars in 1971. The right side of the image shows part of an impact crater that is approximately 20 kilometers (12 miles) in diameter. The furrowed appearance of the crater's inner wall suggests that it has been extensively modified, perhaps by landslides and flowing water. Like other craters in the area, the floor of this crater has a rough and dissected texture that is often attributed to the loss of ice-rich material. Image AEB_000001_0050_Red was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on March 24, 2006. The image is centered at 40.64 degrees south latitude, 303.49 degrees east longitude. The image is oriented such that north is 7 degrees to the left of up. The range to the target was 2,044 kilometers (1,270 miles). At this distance the image scale is 2.04 meters (6.69 feet) per pixel, so objects as small as 6.1 meters (20 feet) are resolved. In total this image is 40.90 kilometers (25.41 miles) or 20,081 pixels wide and 11.22 kilometers (6.97 miles) or 5,523 pixels high. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 07:30 and the scene is illuminated from the upper right with a solar incidence angle of 81.4 degrees, thus the sun was about 8.6 degrees above the horizon. At an Ls of 29 degrees (with Ls an indicator of Mars' position in its orbit around the sun), the season on Mars is southern autumn. Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro [ http://www.nasa.gov/mro ] or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu [ http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu ]. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov [ http://www.nasa.gov ]. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
North Polar Layered Deposits …
title North Polar Layered Deposits in Summer
Description The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter acquired this image during its first day of test imaging from the spacecraft's low-altitude mapping orbit, Sept. 29, 2006. This image of Mars' north polar layered deposits was taken during the summer season (solar longitude of 113.6 degrees), when carbon dioxide frost had evaporated from the surface. The bright spots seen here are most likely patches of water frost, but the location of the frost patches does not appear to controlled by topography. Layers are visible at the bottom of the image, mostly due to difference in slope between them. The variations in slope are probably caused by differences in the physical properties of the layers. Thinner layers that have previously been observed in these deposits are visible, and may represent annual deposition of water ice and dust that is thought to form the polar layered deposits. These deposits are thought to record global climate variations on Mars, similar to ice ages on Earth. HiRISE images such as this should allow Mars' climate record to be inferred and compared with climate changes on Earth. Image TRA_000825_2665 was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on September 29, 2006. Shown here is the full image, centered at 86.5 degree latitude, 172.0 degrees east longitude. The image is oriented such that north is to the top. The range to the target site was 298.9 kilometers (186.8 miles). At this distance the image scale is 59.8 centimeters (23.5 inches) per pixel (with two-by-two binning} so objects about 1.79 meters (70 inches) across are resolved. In total the original image was 12.2 kilometers 7.58 mile, 10024 pixels) wide and 6.1 kilometers (3.79 miles, 5000 pixels) long. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 3:30 PM and the scene is illuminated from the southwest with a solar incidence angle of 63.5 degrees, thus the sun was about 26.5 degrees above the horizon. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. Credit: NASA/JPL/UA
Landscape Northeast of Halle …
title Landscape Northeast of Halley Crater
Description . NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona, This image shows a landscape west of Mars' Argyre impact basin and northeast of Halley Crater. The large but faint circular feature near the center of the image is an unnamed impact crater about 7.5 kilometers (4.7 miles) in diameter. It has been all but erased by geological (and probably ice-related) processes. In fact, the majority of impact craters in this image have been modified from their original shapes, some undoubtedly beyond recognition. Only a few small craters remain pristine. The most prevalent surface type in this image is rough, dissected terrain, which is characterized by a complex pattern of knobs, pits, ridges and valleys. In places the rough terrain has been covered by a younger material that appears flat, smooth and nearly featureless. The smooth material may have been emplaced as muddy or icy debris. It filled low-lying areas (most notably craters) and surrounded higher features, preserving islands of rough terrain. Wind-formed dunes have formed atop some of the smooth material, and diagonal streaks on the right side of the image may be due to the winds. Images such as this show the importance of water (liquid and/or ice), wind, and impacts in shaping the surface of Mars. Image AEB_000001_0100_Red was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on March 24, 2006. The image is centered at 47.14 degrees south latitude, 302.00 degrees east longitude. It is oriented such that north is 7 degrees to the left of up. The range to the target was 1,699 kilometers (1,056 miles). At this distance the image scale is 1.70 meter (5.58 feet) per pixel in the center portion of the image, so objects as small as 5.1 meter (16.7 feet) are resolved. In the side regions the pixels were binned 2x2 to a scale of 3.4 meters (11.2 feet) per pixel. The camera has a total of 10 red-bandpass CCD detectors, and in this image the first 4 CCDs on the left and the last 3 on the right were binned 2x2, while 3 in the middle returned data at full resolution. In total this image is 34.08 kilometers (21.18 miles) or 20,081 pixels wide and 8.50 kilometers (5.28 miles) or 5,164 pixels high. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 07:27 and the scene is illuminated from the upper right with a solar incidence angle of 84.5 degrees, thus the sun was about 5.5 degrees above the horizon. At an Ls of 29 degrees (with Ls an indicator of Mars' position in its orbit around the sun), the season on Mars is southern autumn. Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro [ http://www.nasa.gov/mro ] or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu [ http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu ]. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov [ http://www.nasa.gov ]
Perspective Views of HiRISE …
title Perspective Views of HiRISE First Image
Description This perspective view generated from digital topography provides an overview of the Mars terrain covered in the first color image of Mars from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. It has a field of view 55 degrees wide, and no vertical exaggeration. The overview illustrates how the ridge has deformed several valleys and impact craters. The image is a subset of the first HiRISE image from Mars [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08014 ], which was taken on March 24, 2006. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 07:33 and the scene is illuminated from the upper right with a solar incidence angle of 78.1 degrees, thus the sun was about 11.9 degrees above the horizon. At an Ls of 29 degrees (with Ls an indicator of Mars' position in its orbit around the sun), the season on Mars is southern autumn. Images from the HiRISE and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro [ http://www.nasa.gov/mro ] or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu [ http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu ]. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov [ http://www.nasa.gov ]. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/USGS
Perspective Views of HiRISE …
title Perspective Views of HiRISE First Image
Description This perspective view generated from digital topography provides an overview of a portion of the Mars terrain covered in the first color image of Mars from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. It has a field of view 55 degrees wide, and no vertical exaggeration. The overview illustrates how the ridge has deformed several valleys and impact craters. The image is a subset of the first HiRISE image from Mars [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08014 ], which was taken on March 24, 2006. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 07:33 and the scene is illuminated from the upper right with a solar incidence angle of 78.1 degrees, thus the sun was about 11.9 degrees above the horizon. At an Ls of 29 degrees (with Ls an indicator of Mars' position in its orbit around the sun), the season on Mars is southern autumn. Images from the HiRISE and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro [ http://www.nasa.gov/mro ] or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu [ http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu ]. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov [ http://www.nasa.gov ]. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/USGS
Perspective Views of HiRISE …
title Perspective Views of HiRISE First Image
Description This perspective view generated from digital topography provides an overview of a portion of the Mars terrain covered in the first color image of Mars from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. It has a field of view 55 degrees wide, and no vertical exaggeration. The overview illustrates how the ridge has deformed several valleys and impact craters. The image is a subset of the first HiRISE image from Mars [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08014 ], which was taken on March 24, 2006. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 07:33 and the scene is illuminated from the upper right with a solar incidence angle of 78.1 degrees, thus the sun was about 11.9 degrees above the horizon. At an Ls of 29 degrees (with Ls an indicator of Mars' position in its orbit around the sun), the season on Mars is southern autumn. Images from the HiRISE and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro [ http://www.nasa.gov/mro ] or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu [ http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu ]. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov [ http://www.nasa.gov ]. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/USGS
Sample of the Argyre Impact …
title Sample of the Argyre Impact Basin Rim
Description http://www.nasa.gov [ http://www.nasa.gov ]. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona, This image shows part of a low mountain belt that rings the Argyre impact basin in Mars' southern hemisphere. The mountains or hills seen here are located in the northwestern part of the Charitum Montes. Taken just minutes after the sun had risen over the horizon, only the sun-facing slopes are well illuminated and much of the scene is in shadow, but the camera has nevertheless captured many details of the surface that are only dimly illuminated. There are terrains that are both smooth and rough at this scale (2.94 meters or 9.65 feet per pixel). The rough terrain is littered with blocks roughly 10 meters (30 feet) across, and the smooth material has a uniform appearance broken by subtle, undulating ridges. The rough terrains usually occur at relatively high elevations, and smooth material occupies the lowest areas. In some locations it is evident that boulders from the rough terrain have tumbled downhill onto the smooth material. The smooth material is younger than the rough terrain, and some of it may have formed when water-rich or ice-rich debris flooded low-lying areas. In other areas the smooth material mantles the topography like deposits of airborne dust. Further upslope, the mountain flanks have a variety of rough textures. In places the terrain has been eroded into streamlined forms and striations, suggestive of glacial erosion. Gullies formed in one spot near bottom center. Perhaps the most striking aspect of this image is the dearth of fresh impact craters. The Argyre basin is thought to be billions of years old, but much more recent processes have greatly modified the surface. Image AEB_000001_0150_Red was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on March 24, 2006. The image is centered at 52.20 degrees south latitude, 300.75 degrees east longitude. It is oriented such that north is 7 degrees to the left of up. The range to the target was 1,470 kilometers (913 miles). With 2x2 pixel binning, the scale of the image is 2.94 meters (9.65 feet) per pixel, so objects as small as 8.82 meters (28.94 feet) are resolved. In total this image is 29.47 kilometers (18.31 miles) or 10,040 pixels wide and 76.44 kilometers (47.50 miles) or 26,011 pixels long. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 07:24 and the scene is illuminated from the upper right with a solar incidence angle of 87.1 degrees, thus the sun was about 2.9 degrees above the horizon. At an Ls of 29 degrees (with Ls an indicator of Mars' position in its orbit around the sun), the season on Mars is southern autumn. Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro [ http://www.nasa.gov/mro ] or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu [ http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu ]. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit:
First Color HiRISE Image of …
title First Color HiRISE Image of Mars
Description . JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona, This is the first color image of Mars from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. At the center portion of the camera's array of light detectors there are extra detectors to image in green and near-infrared color bandpasses, to be combined with the black-and-white images (from red-bandpass detectors) to create color images. This is not natural color as seen by human eyes, but infrared color -- shifted to longer wavelengths. This image also has been processed to enhance subtle color variations. The southern half of the scene is brighter and bluer than the northern half, perhaps due to early-morning fog in the atmosphere. Large-scale streaks in the northern half are due to the action of wind on surface materials. The blankets of material ejected from the many small fresh craters are generally brighter and redder than the surrounding surface, but a few are darker and less red. Two greenish spots in the middle right of the scene may have an unusual composition, and are good future targets for the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars, a mineral-identifying instrument on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (http://crism.jhuapl.edu/ [ http://crism.jhuapl.edu/ ]). In the bottom half of the image we see a redder color in the rough areas, where wind and sublimation of water or carbon dioxide ice have partially eroded patches of smooth-textured deposits. Image AEB_000001_0000_Color was taken by HiRISE on March 24, 2006. The image is centered at 33.65 degrees south latitude, 305.07 degrees east longitude. It is oriented such that north is 7 degrees to the left of up. The range to the target was 2,493 kilometers (1,549 miles). At this distance the image scale is 2.49 meters (8.17 feet) per pixel, so objects as small as 7.5 meters (24.6 feet) are resolved. In total this image is 49.92 kilometers (31.02 miles) or 20,081 pixels wide and 23.66 kilometers (14.70 miles) or 9,523 pixels long. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 07:33 and the scene is illuminated from the upper right with a solar incidence angle of 78 degrees, thus the sun was 12 degrees above the horizon. At an Ls of 29 degrees (with Ls an indicator of Mars' position in its orbit around the sun), the season on Mars is southern autumn. Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro [ http://www.nasa.gov/mro ] or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu [ http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu ]. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov [ http://www.nasa.gov ]
First HiRISE Image of Mars: …
title First HiRISE Image of Mars: Topographic Model from Photoclinometry
Description http://www.nasa.gov/mro [ http://www.nasa.gov/mro ] or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu [ http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu ]. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov [ http://www.nasa.gov ]. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/USGS, This is a topographic map of part of the area covered by the first image of Mars obtained by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft. The image was processed at the U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, by a technique called photoclinometry (or, more descriptively, "shape-from-shading"). This method allows elevations to be reconstructed from a single image by noting how surfaces sloping toward the sun appear brighter than areas that slope away from it. This image is almost ideal for such interpretation because the low sun angle reveals even subtle slopes with dramatic contrast, and variations in the brightness of surface materials (which could be confused with slopes) are minimal. At left is the region of the image that was analyzed, tinted to approximate the visual appearance of the Martian surface. This region is a square 20.4 kilometers (12.7 miles) wide (8,192 pixels by 8,192 pixels at a scale of 2.49 meters or 8.17 feet per pixel). At right is a color-coded topographic contour map of the same area. The total range of elevations is 1.6 kilometers (1 mile), with low areas shown in purple and high areas in red. Contours mark each 20-meter (66-foot) change in elevation. Photoclinometry gives relative rather than absolute heights, but the overall height and shape of features in this map, such as the ridge Ogygis Rupes in the center, agree reasonably well with results from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter on NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft, an instrument with high absolute accuracy but relatively low spatial resolution. The real value of mapping by photoclinometry, however, is that it reveals the details of the smallest topographic features resolved by the image. In this example, the image was resampled by a factor of 2 before processing, so the topographic map has a scale of 5 meters (16 feet) per pixel and resolves features as small as 15 meters (49 feet). Computer-generated three-dimensional close-ups of the surface provide one way to visualize these small but important clues to Martian geologic history. This illustration shows a subset of AEB_000001_0000_Red, which was taken by the HiRISE camera on March 24, 2006. The image is oriented such that north is 7 degrees to the left of up. The range to the target was 2,493 kilometers (1,549 miles). At this distance the image scale is 2.49 meters (8.17 feet) per pixel, so objects as small as 7.5 meters (24.6 feet) are resolved. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 07:33 and the scene is illuminated from the upper right with a solar incidence angle of 78.1 degrees, thus the sun was about 11.9 degrees above the horizon. At an Ls of 29 degrees (with Ls an indicator of Mars' position in its orbit around the sun), the season on Mars is southern autumn. Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at:
First HiRISE image of Mars
title First HiRISE image of Mars
Description . NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona, The first image of Mars by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a story of geologic change in the eastern Bosporos Planum region. Old stream valleys cut into the flanks of a gently sloping mountain range in the center of the image. Layers of smooth-textured deposits have mantled the stream valleys and many impact craters. Wind and sublimation of water or carbon dioxide ice have partially eroded patches of the smooth-textured deposits, leaving behind areas of layered and hummocky terrain. A prominent ridge that extends from the top to the bottom of the image dominates the scene. This ridge formed above a thrust fault, a type of fault that occurs when the surface of a planet is compressed. On planetary surfaces, such fault-related ridges are termed "wrinkle ridges." They are commonly observed on Mars, as well as on Earth's moon and on Venus and Mercury. The wrinkle ridge imaged here is named Ogygis Rupes. This wrinkle ridge has deformed several valleys and impact craters. Throughout the scene, geologically young sand dunes are present within stream valleys and some impact craters. The area is also sprinkled with many small young impact craters, which are distinguished by sharp crater rims and bright or dark halos of ejected material. This image demonstrates how a single HiRISE image can capture a multitude of geologic processes. Image AEB_000001_0000_Red was taken by HiRISE on March 24, 2006. The image is centered at 33.65 degrees south latitude, 305.07 degrees east longitude. It is oriented such that north is 7 degrees to the left of up. The range to the target was 2,493 kilometers (1,549 miles). At this distance the image scale is 2.49 meters (8.17 feet) per pixel, so objects as small as 7.5 meters (24.6 feet) are resolved. In total this image is 49.92 kilometers (31.02 miles) or 20,081 pixels wide and 23.66 kilometers (14.70 miles) or 9,523 pixels long. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 07:33 and the scene is illuminated from the upper right with a solar incidence angle of 78 degrees, thus the sun was 12 degrees above the horizon. At an Ls of 29 degrees (with Ls an indicator of Mars' position in its orbit around the sun), the season on Mars is southern autumn. Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro [ http://www.nasa.gov/mro ] or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu [ http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu ]. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov [ http://www.nasa.gov ]
Perspective Views of HiRISE …
title Perspective Views of HiRISE First Image
Description This perspective view generated from digital topography provides an overview of a portion of the Mars terrain covered in the first color image of Mars from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. It has a field of view 55 degrees wide, and no vertical exaggeration. The overview illustrates how the ridge has deformed several valleys and impact craters. The image is a subset of the first HiRISE image from Mars [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08014 ], which was taken on March 24, 2006. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 07:33 and the scene is illuminated from the upper right with a solar incidence angle of 78.1 degrees, thus the sun was about 11.9 degrees above the horizon. At an Ls of 29 degrees (with Ls an indicator of Mars' position in its orbit around the sun), the season on Mars is southern autumn. Images from the HiRISE and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro [ http://www.nasa.gov/mro ] or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu [ http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu ]. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov [ http://www.nasa.gov ]. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/USGS
A Myriad of Geologic Process …
title A Myriad of Geologic Processes in Terra Cimmeria
Description This scene in a region of Mars named Terra Cimmeria shows a variety of ancient and recent geologic processes. In the upper portion of the image, a twisting ridge of raised ground may outline the location of a subsurface thrust fault. This type of fault results in the compression and crumpling of a planet's surface. This crumpling of the planet's surface has squeezed two originally circular craters on the ridge into oval-shaped craters. Valleys are also present throughout the image, suggesting that water flowed across this area a long time ago. Many valleys and craters in the image are now filled by deposits of dust or debris. This debris mantle is common over the middle latitudes of Mars and is a geologically recent deposit. Image AEB_000002_0050_Red was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on March 25, 2006. The image is centered at 40.64 degrees south latitude, 144.39 degrees east longitude. It is oriented such that north is 7 degrees to the left of up. The range to the target was 2,038 kilometers (1,266 miles). At this distance the image scale is 2.04 meters (6.69 feet) per pixel, so objects as small as 6.1 meters (20 feet) are resolved. In total this image is 12.34 kilometers (7.67 miles) or 6,045 pixels wide and 34.68 kilometers (21.55 miles) or 17,003 pixels long. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 07:28 and the scene is illuminated from the upper right with a solar incidence angle of 82.0 degrees, thus the sun was about 8.0 degrees above the horizon. At an Ls of 30 degrees (with Ls an indicator of Mars' position in its orbit around the sun), the season on Mars is southern autumn. Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro [ http://www.nasa.gov/mro ] or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu [ http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu ]. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov [ http://www.nasa.gov ]. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Twilight Imaging of Kepler C …
title Twilight Imaging of Kepler Crater Floor
Description This image of the floor of Kepler crater in early morning twilight highlights the quality of images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera even under extremely minimal lighting conditions. At the time that this image was acquired, the sun had just barely risen over the horizon. This faint illumination reveals a terrain dotted by numerous exhumed impact craters. These impact craters once dominated the landscape of this region until they were buried under a blanket of soil. Subsequent wind action and perhaps sublimation of subsurface water and carbon-dioxide ice has etched pits and grooves into the blanket of soil, revealing the older impact craters below. These exhumed impact craters can be recognized as circular depressions or plateaus. Also present in this scene are multitudes of dunes that have formed as sand has blown across the terrain. Dunes have accumulated in depressions, such as the pits and grooves associated with the exhumed impact craters, as well as on the floors of some of the larger craters. Image AEB_000002_0100_Red was taken by HiRISE camera onboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on March 25, 2006. The image is centered at 47.14 degrees south latitude, 142.90 degrees east longitude. It is oriented such that north is 7 degrees to the left of up. The range to the target was 1,694 kilometers (1,053 miles). Because the image was acquired by mixing the resolution levels of HiRISE detectors, the scale of the image is 6.76 meters (22.18 feet) per pixel, so objects as small as 27.04 meters (88.71 feet) are resolved. In total this image is 33.88 kilometers (21.05 miles) or 5,017 pixels wide and 37.18 kilometers (23.10 miles) or 5,636 pixels long. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 07:25 and the scene is illuminated from the upper right with a solar incidence angle of 85.1 degrees, thus the sun was about 4.9 degrees above the horizon. At an Ls of 30 degrees (with Ls an indicator of Mars' position in its orbit around the sun), the season on Mars is southern autumn. Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro [ http://www.nasa.gov/mro ] or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu [ http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu ]. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov [ http://www.nasa.gov ]. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Sample of Mid-latitude South …
title Sample of Mid-latitude Southern Highlands
Description http://www.nasa.gov [ http://www.nasa.gov ]. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona, This image shows terrain northeast of Martz Crater in the southern highlands of Mars. It is a landscape dominated by impact craters, scarps and ridges. The plethora of craters and the overprinting of younger craters on older craters indicate that this is an ancient surface. Curvilinear ridges called "wrinkle ridges" are common landforms on Mars. They form when layers of rock and sediment break and fold under compression. Multiple wrinkle ridges are captured in this image, the most prominent of which is a curving structure oriented approximately north-south. A 2.8-kilometer-wide (1.7-mile-wide) impact crater is superimposed on this north-south wrinkle ridge. Gullies, perhaps carved by water or muddy debris, are visible inside this crater. They are partly in shadow, but can be shown clearly by adjusting the contrast of the full-resolution image. Several of the smaller craters in this image contain dune fields, which attest to the presence of wind-blown sediments. In the lower portion of the image a few cliffs or scarps can be seen. While their origin is uncertain, they may have formed by some combination of flowing water and mass wasting. If one looks carefully at this image, it is possible to find horizontal blurred zones about 100 pixels tall. During these times the spacecraft was executing a test of how much the motion of another instrument would shake the spacecraft. These blurred regions also introduce geometric distortions, so the match between the three CCD images utilized for this observation is sometimes poor. The MRO spacecraft includes a high-stability mode that should minimize these problems. Image AEB_000002_0000_Red was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on March 25, 2006. The image is centered at 33.66 degrees south latitude, 145.97 degrees east longitude. It is oriented such that north is 7 degrees to the left of up. The range to the target was 2,485 kilometers (1,544 miles). At this distance the image scale is 2.49 meters (8.17 feet) per pixel, so objects as small as 7.5 meters (24.6 feet) are resolved. In total this image is 15.01 kilometers (9.33 miles) or 6,045 pixels wide and 57.27 kilometers (35.59 miles) or 23,024 pixels long. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 07:30 and the scene is illuminated from the upper right with a solar incidence angle of 78.7 degrees, thus the sun was about 11.3 degrees above the horizon. At an Ls of 30 degrees (with Ls an indicator of Mars' position in its orbit around the sun), the season on Mars is southern autumn. Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro [ http://www.nasa.gov/mro ] or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu [ http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu ]. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit:
Perspective Views of HiRISE …
title Perspective Views of HiRISE First Image
Description This perspective view generated from digital topography provides an overview of the Mars terrain covered in the first color image of Mars from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. It has a field of view 55 degrees wide, and no vertical exaggeration. The overview illustrates how the ridge has deformed several valleys and impact craters. The image is a subset of the first HiRISE image from Mars [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08014 ], which was taken on March 24, 2006. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 07:33 and the scene is illuminated from the upper right with a solar incidence angle of 78.1 degrees, thus the sun was about 11.9 degrees above the horizon. At an Ls of 29 degrees (with Ls an indicator of Mars' position in its orbit around the sun), the season on Mars is southern autumn. Images from the HiRISE and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro [ http://www.nasa.gov/mro ] or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu [ http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu ]. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov [ http://www.nasa.gov ]. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/USGS
Western Arcadia Planitia
title Western Arcadia Planitia
Description This is a Mars Odyssey visible color image of an unnamed crater in western Arcadia Planitia (near 39 degrees N, 179 degrees E). The crater shows a number of interesting internal and external features that suggest that it has undergone substantial modification since it formed. These features include concentric layers and radial streaks of brighter, redder materials inside the crater, and a heavily degraded rim and ejecta blanket. The patterns inside the crater suggest that material has flowed or slumped towards the center. Other craters with features like this have been seen at both northern and southern mid latitudes The distribution of these kinds of craters suggests the possible influence of surface or subsurface ice in the formation of these enigmatic features. The image was taken on September 29, 2002 during late northern spring. This is an approximate true color image, generated from a long strip of visible red (654 nm), green (540 nm), and blue (425 nm) filter images that were calibrated using a combination of pre-flight measurements and Hubble images of Mars. The colors appear perhaps a bit darker than one might expect, this is most likely because the images were acquired in late afternoon (roughly 4:40 p.m. local solar time) and the low Sun angle results in an overall darker surface. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The thermal emission imaging system was provided by Arizona State University, Tempe. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, Colo., is the prime contractor for the project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Credit: NASA/JPL/Arizona State University/Cornell University
Mars Ice Age, Simulated
title Mars Ice Age, Simulated
Description Infrared imaging from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows signs of layering exposed at the surface in a region of Mars called Terra Meridiani. The brightness levels show daytime surface temperatures, which range from about minus 20 degrees to zero degrees Celsius (minus 4 degrees to 32 degrees Fahrenheit). Many of the temperature variations are due to slope effects, with sun-facing slopes warmer than shaded slopes. However, several rock layers can be seen to have distinctly different temperatures, indicating that physical properties vary from layer to layer. These differences suggest that the environment on this part of Mars varied through time as these layers were formed. The image is a mosaic combining four exposures taken by the thermal emission imaging system aboard Odyssey during the first two months of the Odyssey mapping mission, which began in February 2002. The area shown is about 120 kilometers (75 miles) across, at approximately 358 degrees east (2 degrees west) longitude and 3 degrees north latitude. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The thermal emission imaging system was provided by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and JPL. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Credit: NASA/JPL/Arizona State University
Mars Surface Layers in Infra …
title Mars Surface Layers in Infrared
Description Infrared imaging from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows signs of layering exposed at the surface in a region of Mars called Terra Meridiani. The brightness levels show daytime surface temperatures, which range from about minus 20 degrees to zero degrees Celsius (minus 4 degrees to 32 degrees Fahrenheit). Many of the temperature variations are due to slope effects, with sun-facing slopes warmer than shaded slopes. However, several rock layers can be seen to have distinctly different temperatures, indicating that physical properties vary from layer to layer. These differences suggest that the environment on this part of Mars varied through time as these layers were formed. The image is a mosaic combining four exposures taken by the thermal emission imaging system aboard Odyssey during the first two months of the Odyssey mapping mission, which began in February 2002. The area shown is about 120 kilometers (75 miles) across, at approximately 358 degrees east (2 degrees west) longitude and 3 degrees north latitude. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The thermal emission imaging system was provided by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and JPL. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Credit: NASA/JPL/Arizona State University
Odyssey/Ganges
title Odyssey/Ganges
Description These Mars Odyssey images show layered deposits located on the floor of Ganges Chasma, part of the Valles Marineris canyon system, in both infrared (left) and visible (right) wavelengths. The images were acquired simultaneously by the thermal emission imaging system on March 17, 2002. The box shows where the visible image is located wthin the infrared image. The infrared image displays variations in surface temperature where bright tones indicate warmer surfaces and dark tones are cooler ones. Dramatic layering can be seen throughout the central deposit in both the infrared and visible images. Different styles of erosion are shown in these different layers, suggesting that Mars was subject to changing environments during its history. The infrared image has a resolution of 100 meters (328 feet) per pixel and is 32 kilometers (20 miles) wide. The visible image has a resolution of 18 meters per pixel and is approximately 18 kilometers (11 miles) wide. Pixel brightness in the infrared image is controlled by the temperature of the surface, which is in turn depend on how much Sun the area gets. Hence, dark units will heat up during the day and appear bright in the infrared. Conversely, visibly bright areas will not heat up as much and will appear dark in the infrared image. The images are centered at 7.1 degrees south latitude and 310.4 degrees east longitude. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Credit: NASA/JPL/Arizona State University
Mars Odyssey All Stars -- Po …
marscollection, nasa
A sea of dark dunes, sculpte …
504716main_pia13662
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2010-12-08
creator NASA
identifier 504716main_pia13662
Neon Saturn
PIA09212
Saturn
Visual and Infrared Mapping …
Title Neon Saturn
Original Caption Released with Image Flying over the unlit side of Saturn's rings, the Cassini spacecraft captures Saturn's glow, represented in brilliant shades of electric blue, sapphire and mint green, while the planet's shadow casts a wide net on the rings. This striking false-color mosaic was created from 25 images taken by Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer over a period of 13 hours, and captures Saturn in nighttime and daytime conditions. The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer acquires data simultaneously at 352 different wavelengths, or spectral channels. Data at wavelengths of 2.3, 3.0 and 5.1 microns were combined in the blue, green and red channels of a standard color image, respectively, to make this false-color mosaic. This image was acquired on Feb. 24, 2007, while the spacecraft was 1.58 million kilometers (1 million miles) from the planet and 34.6 degrees above the ring plane. The solar phase angle was 69.5 degrees. In this view, Cassini was looking down on the northern, unlit side of the rings, which are rendered visible by sunlight filtering through from the sunlit, southern face. On the night side (right side of image), with no sunlight, Saturn's own thermal radiation lights things up. This light at 5.1 microns wavelength (some seven times the longest wavelength visible to the human eye) is generated deep within Saturn, and works its way upward, eventually escaping into space. Thick clouds deep in the atmosphere block that light. An amazing array of dark streaks, spots, and globe-encircling bands is visible instead. Saturn's strong thermal glow at 5.1 microns even allows these deep clouds to be seen on portions of the dayside (left side), especially where overlying hazes are thin and the glint of the sun off of them is minimal. These deep clouds are likely made of ammonium hydrosulfide and cannot be seen in reflected light on the dayside, since the glint of the sun on overlying hazes and ammonia clouds blocks the view of this level. A pronounced difference in the brightness between the northern and southern hemispheres is apparent. The northern hemisphere is about twice as bright as the southern hemisphere. This is because high-level, fine particles are about half as prevalent in the northern hemisphere as in the south. These particles block Saturn's glow more strongly, making Saturn look brighter in the north. At 2.3 microns (shown in blue), the icy ring particles are highly reflecting, while methane gas in Saturn's atmosphere strongly absorbs sunlight and renders the planet very dark. At 3.0 microns (shown in green), the situation is reversed: water ice in the rings is strongly absorbing, while the planet's sunlit hemisphere is bright. Thus the rings appear blue in this representation, while the sunlit side of Saturn is greenish-yellow in color. Within the rings, the most opaque parts appear dark, while the more translucent regions are brighter. In particular, the opaque, normally-bright B ring appears here as a broad, dark band, separating the brighter A (outer) and C (inner) rings. At 5.1 microns (shown in red), reflected sunlight is weak and thus light from the planet is dominated by thermal (i.e., heat) radiation that wells up from the planet's deep atmosphere. This thermal emission dominates Saturn's dark side as well as the north polar region (where the hexagon is again visible) and the shadow cast by the A and B rings. Variable amounts of clouds in the planet's upper atmosphere block the thermal radiation, leading to a speckled and banded appearance, which is ever-shifting due to the planet's strong winds. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer team is based at the University of Arizona, where this image was produced. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm [ http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov ]. The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team homepage is at http://wwwvims.lpl.arizona.edu [ http://wwwvims.lpl.arizona.edu ].
Gusev Crater
PIA04261
Sol (our sun)
Thermal Emission Imaging Sys …
Title Gusev Crater
Original Caption Released with Image This mosaic of nighttime infrared images of Gusev Crater, taken by the camera system on the Mars Odyssey spacecraft, has been draped over topography data obtained by Mars Global Surveyor. Variations in nighttime temperatures are due to differences in the abundance of rocky materials that retain their heat at night and stay relatively warm (bright). Fine grained dust and sand (dark) cools off more rapidly at night. This image mosaic covers an area approximately 180 kilometers (110 miles) on each side centered near 14 degrees S, 175 degrees E, looking toward the south in this simulated view. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The thermal emission imaging system was provided by Arizona State University, Tempe. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, Colo., is the prime contractor for the project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Gusev Crater
PIA04260
Sol (our sun)
Thermal Emission Imaging Sys …
Title Gusev Crater
Original Caption Released with Image This mosaic of daytime infrared images of Gusev Crater, taken by the camera system on the Mars Odyssey spacecraft, has been draped over topography data obtained by Mars Global Surveyor. The daytime temperatures range from approximately minus 45 degrees C (black) to minus 5 degrees C (white). The temperature differences in these daytime images are due primarily to lighting effects, where sunlit slopes are warm (bright) and shadowed slopes are cool (dark). Gusev crater is a potential landing site for the Mars Exploration Rovers. The large ancient river channel of Ma'Adim that once flowed into Gusev can be seen at the top of the mosaic. This image mosaic covers an area approximately 180 kilometers (110 miles) on each side centered near 14 degrees S, 175 degrees E, looking toward the south in this simulated view. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The thermal emission imaging system was provided by Arizona State University, Tempe. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, Colo., is the prime contractor for the project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Europa and Callisto under th …
PIA02861
Sol (our sun)
Imaging Science Subsystem
Title Europa and Callisto under the watchful gaze of Jupiter
Original Caption Released with Image One moment in an ancient, orbital dance is caught in this color picture taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on Dec. 7, 2000, just as two of Jupiter's four major moons, Europa and Callisto, were nearly perfectly aligned with each other and the center of the planet. The distances are deceiving. Europa, seen against Jupiter, is 600,000 kilometers (370,000 miles) above the planet's cloud tops. Callisto, at lower left, is nearly three times that distance from the cloud tops. Europa is a bit smaller than Earth's Moon and has one of the brightest surfaces in the solar system. Callisto is 50 percent bigger -- roughly the size of Saturn's largest satellite, Titan -- and three times darker than Europa. Its brightness had to be enhanced in this picture, relative Europa's and Jupiter's, in order for Callisto to be seen in this image. Europa and Callisto have had very different geologic histories but share some surprising similarities, such as surfaces rich in ice. Callisto has apparently not undergone major internal compositional stratification, but Europa's interior has differentiated into a rocky core and an outer layer of nearly pure ice. Callisto's ancient surface is completely covered by large impact craters: The brightest features seen on Callisto in this image were discovered by the Voyager spacecraft in 1979 to be bright craters, like those on our Moon. In contrast, Europa's young surface is covered by a wild tapestry of ridges, chaotic terrain and only a handful of large craters. Recent data from the magnetometer carried by the Galileo spacecraft, which has been in orbit around Jupiter since 1995, indicate the presence of conducting fluid, most likely salty water, inside both worlds. Scientists are eager to discover whether the surface of Saturn's Titan resembles that of Callisto or Europa, or whether it is entirely different when Cassini finally reaches its destination in 2004. Cassini is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C.
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