This thin neon line is a look through the backlit sky of Saturn, as color-calibrated by Gordan Ugarkovic. This is a natural-color segment of a larger photo, seen here. On September 15, 2006, Cassini captured one of the most breathtaking images of Saturn ever, during an eclipse event when Saturn was perfectly backlit by…
Month: June 2009
Out of the Shadows
A stunning image by Cassini, received today, of Daphnis splashing through the Keeler Gap (as seen in my last post). In this photo the sunlight is coming from the opposite direction though. Saturn’s massive shadow falls upon the rings on the right side of this image. Background stars can be seen through the rings. From…
Wave Forms
Cast shadows reveal some interesting structure in the waves sent up by little Daphnis in this image, taken by the Cassini spacecraft on June 26, 2009. Daphnis orbits Saturn within the 26-mile-wide Keeler gap in the A ring. Its gravity disrupts the edges of the gap, carving scalloped edges in the ring material and also,…
Mars Rocks!
I don’t care how commonplace images like these have become over the past decade…it still fascinates me to look at photos of the rocky Martian landscape. Rugged, barren and empty as it is, it’s another planet. Every hill, every rock, every sand dune has never been touched by a person, or perhaps even any living…
Explaining Enceladus
This JPL video highlights Enceladus and explains some of the recent discoveries about this mysterious moon of Saturn. Enjoy! more about “Explaining Enceladus“, posted with vodpod
Pieces of Flare
With Enceladus in the spotlight this week (see previous post) Cassini’s camera was trained on the icy moon and captured several images which seem to show its signature polar jets in action. Spliced together, these photos create an intriguing animation that, while not exactly clear as to what’s going on, is interesting to watch….
A Salty Tale
Studies of the enigmatic jets erupting from Enceladus’ south pole have shown the presence of salt in the expelled material, hinting at the possibility of a subsurface ocean beneath the crust of this moon of Saturn. Read the full story here. The jets, discovered in 2005 by the Cassini mission, erupt into space from the…
Tunguska Mystery Solved?
Inspired by a post on Universe Today by Nancy Atkinson: 1908 Tunguska Event Caused by Comet, New Research Reveals Long the subject of debate, with various theories ranging from meteorite impact to a comet to a flying saucer’s sudden engine meltdown, there’s actually strong evidence that the 1908 “Tunguska Event” was likely caused by the explosion of a…
Dark Side of the Moon
As a matter of fact there IS a dark side of the moon, and it’s NOT all dark. The recently-launched LCROSS orbiter proves it too, in this photo taken during its lunar gravity-assist orbit which will take it around the Earth several times before finally impacting the moon on October 9. This image of the…
As The World Turns
A very cool animation sequence by Gordan U., showing 21 sequences of the Jupiter system. Big Daddy Jove, clouds a-churnin’, all the kids running around. Nice work Gordan! Animation: Gordan Ugarkovic. Used with permission.
Chasing Shadows
This animation, made from raw images received on June 22, brings us on a flight above Saturn’s B and A rings looking down over the 3,000-mile wide Cassini Division, following the elongated shadow of a moon cast upon – and through – the ring material. The different densities of the ring segments are made apparent…
Final Frame
This haunting photo is the last image sent back by Japan’s KAGUYA probe before it crashed into the lunar surface at the end of its mission on June 10, 2009. A tiny sliver of sunlight illuminates the rocky rim of a crater as the probe’s high-definition camera stares into the pitch black lunar shadows below….
Lights in the Dark 