Comments on: Big Saturn

By: Stan9FOS

Stan9FOS — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:13:20 +0000

It’s 2009 already! We should be taking vacations there!

By: Tim Bennett

Tim Bennett — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:41:21 +0000

@John Weiss Ah, of course, the rings are also in motion! Thanks, that totally didn’t occur to me.

By: Sili

Sili — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:26:44 +0000

Big Saturn?

Is that like Big Pharma? Sucking all the funds out of the planetary budget at the expense of Uranus and Neptune.

SOMG!! SATURN KILLED PLUTO!!

By: Trebuchet

Trebuchet — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:37:30 +0000

Note that one of the comments quotes someone called “Phil”: Holy Haleakala!

I really love The Big Picture, they have lots of interesting stuff. A surprising amount of which is space/astronomy.

And once again, I’m reminded of what we lost due to the HGA failure on Galileo, at least in terms of pretty pictures.

By: Ca n´Internet

Ca n´Internet — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:28:56 +0000

Sheer beauty.

By: John Weiss

John Weiss — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:10:06 +0000

@Tim Bennett

It’s a question of which direction the material is coming from, seen from Daphnis. Because stuff closer to Saturn moves faster, it overtakes Daphnis and there the waves (which happen after encountering Daphnis) are to one side. Material outside the gap is being overtaken by Daphnis, so the waves appear on the other side.

So glad so many of those pictures turned out well. Wew!

By: Zucchi

Zucchi — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:22:01 +0000

My God (just a figure of speech), that’s fantastic. I especially love the pic of Prometheus distorting the F Ring. And most of these are visible light! Someday humans will make cross that billion miles of space and see this with their own eyes. I kinda wish I’d stuck to my plan, finished college and become a planetary astronomer.

There’s nothing like the first time you see Saturn through a telescope. It’s hard to believe the pictures are real until you see the rings for yourself.

I wish Chesley Bonestell were around to see this.

By: james wheaton

james wheaton — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:12:42 +0000

I think Cassini (and the Huygens probe) have been as spectacular and successful a program as has ever been achieved. The pictures leave me practically speechless. It gives me consolation that if it isn’t in the cards to send man to another planet, the robots can do so much for us instead.

By: Larian LeQuella

Larian LeQuella — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:46:23 +0000

Dr Plait,

Just sent you an email about this story: http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/10/ff_waronscience/all/1 Great read that needs as much publicity as possible.

By: Gina

Gina — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:36:28 +0000

I got chills looking at these images. Amazing!

By: Sharkweek

Sharkweek — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:54:22 +0000

Sometimes when I see a picture, I have trouble grokking that it is a real thing in the universe. This is one of those times.

By: Astrofiend

Astrofiend — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:48:03 +0000

Sweet mother of Zeus.

They are among the finest images I’ve seen from Cassini thus far. I mean, check out no. 8 and see if it doesn’t instantly rock your world.

By: rob

rob — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:30:09 +0000

Phil, thanks for the link. Stupendous photos. A terrific start to the day! The amazing beauty and sheer technical brilliance of these photos (“This new moonlet, situated about 480 km (300 mi) inward … The shadow length implies the moonlet is protruding about 200 meters, or 660 feet, above the ring plane.”) are stunning.

How are these images processed to extract meaning/significance? Are there enough astronomers/planet scientists/geographers in the world to keep up with what seems to be a deluge of information-dense data being beamed back from the various expeditions to the solar system? Are the resources forthcoming to keep up with the data or is it being warehoused somehow?

By: Tim Bennett

Tim Bennett — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 07:13:13 +0000

Guys, what’s happening in Picture 9? Daphnis is causing waves on the inner and outer side of the Keeler gap, but on the inner side the waves are only on the right of Daphnis, while on the outer side the waves are only to its left. If Daphnis orbits within the ring gap, I would expect to see equal disturbances.

There must be a scientific explanation, obviously.

By: Dude

Dude — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 06:26:43 +0000

Absolutely stunning. Seeing actual protrusions and distinguishable differences in composure in the rings is just incredible. The scale eternally blows me away. The inclusion of the star in the long Titan exposure makes that pic completely astounding!

By: Charles

Charles — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:40:18 +0000

Whoa! Sensory overload. Thanks, Phil!

By: Spitzer Space Telescope

Spitzer Space Telescope — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:19:25 +0000

Yes, one ring does rule them all…

http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/releases/ssc2009-19/index.shtml

By: I'd rather be fishin'

I'd rather be fishin' — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:16:13 +0000

I have a new desktop. The heck with a boring supernova. Rings are IN! One (set of) rings rules them all!

By: Larian LeQuella

Larian LeQuella — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:04:14 +0000

Damnit, I just set my desktop. Now I have to set another one. Oh well, it’s all worth it.

By: Cindy

Cindy — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 01:51:46 +0000

I see we’re on the same wavelength tonight as I just checked it out as you were blogging about it.

Awesome. I’m amazed at some of the images that were just taken a few days ago.