The data is in from today’s flyby of Enceladus and the images so far have not disappointed! The moon’s characteristic southern jets are running at full power, seen above, backlit by the sun and thereby easily visible to Cassini’s cameras. Below are a couple more images, one of Enceladus’ illuminated icy face with Saturn’s ringplane…
Tag: photography
Full Spectrum
A beautiful natural-color calibrated image by Gordan Ugarkovic, showing the many subtle and varied hues of Saturn’s atmosphere and rings. Image: NASA/JPL/SSI/Gordan Ugarkovic.
Billions and Billions
Talk about lights in the dark! The image above is a low-res version of what amounts to 22 months of dedicated work by Central Michigan University astronomer Axel Mellinger, traveling across the United States and South Africa and assembling over 3,000 individual images to create the most extensive and detailed – and zoomable – portrait…
Photojacked!
In a bit of sisterly silliness, Rhea appears to have photojacked an otherwise lovely portrait of her big sister Titan in this image from Cassini! An honest mistake, I’m sure….the smaller moon quickly realized her transgression and exited the scene shortly after: 🙂 In all seriousness though, these photos illustrate the amazing differences in Saturn’s…
From a Distance
The MESSENGER spacecraft took this photo of Mercury on October 10, 2009, from a distance of almost 2 million miles. Just days earlier, MESSENGER flew over the surface of the innermost planet at an altitude of only 140 miles. With no atmosphere to disperse heat, the day side of Mercury can reach nearly 800º F…
LITD Highlight: What The Hex?
I originally posted this article on February 20, 2009. I like the image a lot, and there’s a link to a cool animation of the hexagonal feature around Saturn’s north pole. As Saturn’s spring approaches, its north pole comes into view and reveals the curious six-sided geometric shape rotating in its uppermost latitudes. This image…
Astro-Art
I can’t repost the images here, because they are copyrighted by the artist, but be sure to check out this series of photographs by renowned photographer Michael Soluri featuring many of the specialized tools used by astronauts on various missions. Beautiful photographs of intriguing instruments, some strange, others very close to what one might find…
A Leap for Mankind
“That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” After speaking these historic words at 10:56 EDT on July 20, 1969, marking the moment that humanity first placed a foot on a world other than its own, Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong began his work documenting the lunar surface before him. The…
Lights in the Dark 