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Very Large Telescope of Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
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Huygens Landing Site
| Description |
Huygens landing site |
| Full Description |
This image provides a comparison between the Huygens landing site on Titan as viewed by the Cassini Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) and the NACO/SDI instrument mounted on the 8-meter Yepun telescope of the VLT (Very Large Telescope) station, in Chile. From the two images it is possible to see a high consistency between the two measurements. The Cassini image - taken in the near-infrared (938 nanometers)- shows the Huygens landing site map wrapped around Titan, rotated to the same position as the January 2005 NACO/SDI observations. The colored lines outline the regions that were imaged by Cassini at different resolutions. The lower-resolution imaging sequences are outlined in blue. Other areas have been specifically targeted to build moderate and high-resolution mosaics of surface features. These include the site where the Huygens probe has touched down on Jan. 14, 2005 (marked with the yellow X), and located at a latitude of 10.3° south and a longitude of 192.32° west (or 167.7° east). The landing site is located on the boundary between the bright region called Adiri and the dark one called Shangri-la. The red color on the NACO/SDI image corresponds to an atmospheric filter at 1.625 micron, while the blue color corresponds to a filter for the surface at 1.600 and 1.575 micron. *Credits:* NASA/JPL/Cassini-ISS/Space Science Institute and ESO/NACO-SDI/VLT |
| Date |
March 5, 2007 |
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Titan in Detail
| title |
Titan in Detail |
| description |
New images of unsurpassed clarity have been obtained with the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) of formations on the surface of Titan, the largest moon in the Saturnian system. They were made by an international research team [1] during recent commissioning observations with the "Simultaneous Differential Imager (SDI)", a novel optical device, just installed at the NACO Adaptive Optics instrument. The images show a number of surface regions with very different reflectivity. Of particular interest are several large "dark" areas of uniformly low reflectivity. One possible interpretation is that they represent huge surface reservoirs of liquid hydrocarbons. These views of Titan, obtained on six nights in February 2004. At the right, the image from the first night (Feburary 1-2, 2004) has been enlarged for clarity and the coordinate grid on Titan is indicated. The images are false-colour renderings with the three SDI wavebands as red (1.575 ?m, surface), green (1.600 ?m, surface) and blue (1.625 ?m, atmosphere), respectively. *Image Credit*: European Southern Observatory |
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Another Comet LINEAR Breaks
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Another Comet LINEAR Breaks Up |
| Explanation |
Last year, a "different" comet LINEAR (C/1999 S4) [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search?LINEAR+S4 ] broke up. This year, a comet first imaged [ http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iauc/07500/07564.html ] by the Lincoln Near Asteroid Research [ http://www.ll.mit.edu/LINEAR/ ] (LINEAR) telescope in New Mexico [ http://www.state.nm.us/ ] on 2001 January 3, is also breaking up. This new Comet LINEAR (C/2001 A2) [ http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/whats_visible.html#2001A2 ] unexpectedly brightened to the edge of naked-eye visiblilty a few weeks ago when its nucleus broke in two. Observations taken just last week [ http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2001/phot-18-01.html ] now indicate that one of the two remaining nuclear fragments [ http://meteors.com/cometlinear/ ] has again fragmented. The first piece to break off is visible on the upper left of the above false-color image [ http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2001/phot-18-01.html ] by a Very Large Telescope [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000707.html ], while additional fragmentation is inferred from the brightness and elongation of the spot on the lower right. When a comet nucleus [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000805.html ] splits, new surfaces are exposed and previously trapped ice and gas are released that evaporate and brighten in the energetic sunlight. Comet LINEAR may remain visible with little or no optical aid into early June [ http://www.skypub.com/sights/skyevents/0105skyevents.shtml ]. In contrast, at least two other much dimmer Comet [ http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/whats_visible.html#1999T2 ] LINEARs [ http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/whats_visible.html#1999Y1 ] discovered recently appear stable. |
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Pluto & Charon Eclipse a Tri
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| Title |
Pluto & Charon Eclipse a Triple Star |
| Explanation |
Occasionally, a planet in our Solar System [ http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] will pass in front of a bright star. Since stars and planets take up so little space on the sky, such events are quite rare. Two months ago, however, Pluto [ http://www.nineplanets.org/pluto.html ] and its large moon Charon [ http://www.nineplanets.org/pluto.html#charon ] passed in front of a comparatively bright triple star system [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991219.html ] known as P126. By noting how P126 A dimmed, the event was useful for studying Pluto's relatively unknown atmosphere [ http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/pluto/P_atm_evolution.html ]. A Very Large Telescope [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000707.html ] in Chile [ http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ci.html ] using a deformable mirror [ http://www.mtwilson.edu/Science/AdapOpt/Overview/ ] to counter the blurring effect [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000725.html ] of Earth's atmosphere captured the above image [ http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2002/phot-21-02.html ]. |
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Neptune's "Hot" South Pole
PIA09927
Sol (our sun)
Mid-infrared Camera/Spectrom
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| Title |
Neptune's "Hot" South Pole |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
These thermal images show a "hot" south pole on the planet Neptune. These warmer temperatures provide an avenue for methane to escape out of the deep atmosphere. The images were obtained with the Very Large Telescope in Chile, using an imager/spectrometer for mid-infrared wavelengths on Sept. 1 and 2, 2006. The telescope is operated by the European Organization for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (known as ESO). Scientists say Neptune's south pole is "hotter" than anywhere else on the planet by about 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit). The average temperature on Neptune is about minus 200 degrees Celsius (minus 392 degrees Fahrenheit). The upper left image samples temperatures near the top of Neptune's troposphere (near 100 millibar pressure, which is one-tenth the Earth atmospheric pressure at sea level). The hottest temperatures are indicated at the lower part of the image, at Neptune's south pole (see the graphic at the upper right). The lower two images, taken 6.3 hours apart, sample temperatures at higher altitudes in Neptune's stratosphere. They do show generally warmer temperatures near, but not at, the south pole. They also show a distinct warm area which can be seen in the lower left image and rotated completely around the back of the planet and returned to the earth-facing hemisphere in the lower right image. |
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