Opportunity takes a moment to survey its recent work: a circular etching made upon an outcropping of rock amongst the dunes of Meridiani Plains. Both rovers are equipped with a robotic arm that holds three important diagnostic tools mounted on a swiveling “fist”. A microscopic imaging camera, a spectrometer and a rock abrasion tool –…
Live Video: Around the World in 80 Telescopes
Follow along with astronomers, scientists and enthusiasts all around the world with live video feed from Around the World in 80 Telescopes! Part of the 100 Hours of Astronomy International Year of Astronomy 2009 Cornerstone Project, over the next 24 hours members of science teams from observatories worldwide will be participating in interviews and sharing their…
Ice Volcanoes on Titan?
This infrared image, taken by Cassini during a March 27, 2009 flyby of Titan, shows a bright area of topography called “Hotei Arcus” that is believed to be active with volcanoes that ooze slushy ice rather than molten rock. Over the past four years, this area has undergone variations in brightness that indicate resurfacing activity of…
Four Centuries of Discovery
I received a wonderfully written email today from Cassini Team Leader Carolyn Porco about the “100 Hours of Astronomy” event and how the Cassini team is joining the celebration by honoring the 4ooth year anniversary of Galileo’s first look at Saturn through his groundbreaking invention: the astronomical telescope. Here’s the note: Dear Friends and…
A Fresh Wound
This image from the HiRISE camera on the MRO shows an impact crater that is estimated to have been formed some time between February and July of 2005. This feature is in an equatorial highland region of Mars. The colors here are not true to life…they indicate material composition and density more than actual…
Crossing the Gap
These 6 frames made up of raw images from Cassini’s narrow-angle camera show the shadow of a moon – Epimetheus, perhaps? – drifting across the Encke Gap, a 200-mile-wide channel in Saturn’s A ring kept clear by the shepherd moon Pan. The central median ringlet is just visible in these images. With Saturn approaching…
Streaming Content
This 14-frame animation shows the effect of Prometheus on Saturn’s F ring as it travels alongside, its gravity pulling the ring material into streamers that trail in its wake. A clump of ring material leads in front of the moon on the opposite side of the ring. Honestly, I’m not sure what causes this…
A Twilight Moon
In addition to its enshrouding atmosphere, Saturn’s moon Titan also has a high layer of haze that encircles it. Made up of complex hydrocarbons from the breakdown of methane and nitrogen, this haze completely covers the moon and extends over 670 miles into space. 3,200 miles across, Titan’s atmosphere is 10 times thicker and…
A Tangled Web
Criscrossing the south polar region of Mars, cracks and ridges line the frozen ground, broken by the occasional spray of dark material spewed by a geyser of released subsurface gases. These lines are referred to as “spider troughs” due to their resemblance to cobwebs, as seen from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. This image was…
You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby
Opportunity’s tracks disappear into the dunes in this raw photo image taken in February, 2009. After landing on Mars in January of 2004, Opportunity and its sister rover Spirit have been exploring and transmitting data and photos like these for over 5 years now – much longer than their expected “warranty”. Although there…
Rock, Ice and Shadow
Rhea’s cratered surface appears in high relief in this photo from the Cassini orbiter, taken on February 2, 2009. (Click to view the full version.) Rhea (REE-ah) is Saturn’s second-largest moon, after Titan, but at 950 miles across compared 3,200, Rhea is dwarfed by her bigger brother. Still, Rhea has some interesting features….it is…
Ready For My Close-Up, Mister Cassini
In less than 9 hours the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft will conduct its next flyby of Saturn’s moon Titan, using its radar mapping instruments to pierce the moon’s thick atmosphere and reveal more information about surface features. In particular, tonight’s flyby will focus on a feature in Titan’s south polar region called “Ontario Lacus”. Originally mapped…
Lights in the Dark 