Comments on: Saturn, raw

By: Digitalaxis

Digitalaxis — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 14:22:53 +0000

@21: Aside from the particular (unknown) filter Cassini used, this IS an unmodified single-shot image. It’s not in color, which is nearly always the combination of multiple filters at a variety of (often invisible) wavebands, and it appears to be square and without seams, so it’s not a mosaic.

By: alanborky

alanborky — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 10:22:04 +0000

I know what you’re getting at Phil but the truth is this’s another of those astronomy ‘photos’ that’s really photo-like or at best a photo montage based illustration.

They do it with these stunning images with titles like Pillars of Creation artistically composing what’re effectively highly stylised graphs from selected elements derived from ex-ray infrared etc shots before boosting them using vast suites of alogrithms and arbitrarily colouring and light enhancing them leaving the unwitting gazer believing this’s what they’d see if they were up in space whereas they’d be lucky to see amorphous greyness even if they had eyes the size of truck tyres.

But you at least admit that (in an understated kind of way).

And don’t worry me daughter’s already bollocked me for spoiling the romance of such imagery for her.

By: creeper

creeper — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 22:20:21 +0000

Words fail.

By: Capella

Capella — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 17:06:57 +0000

When I see these images nowadays, it brings mixed emotions. The science and imagery are tremendous, and yet there is the knowledge that it will end in 4 years to be replaced with….. nothing – for at least the next 20 years if not permanently. NASA has already publicly admitted that the United States cannot afford to fund missions such as Cassini any more – to the point of pulling out of missions that had begun to get underway. Seeing the “bake sales to raise funds for planetary exploration” protest recently, the likelihood that the US will be able to afford to build and launch spacecraft in the 2020′s to arrive at the outer planets in the 2030′s grows dimmer by the day as well.

One of Phil’s point of emphasis is that “we did this” (!) Equally important is that “we won’t be able to do this in the future”.

Enjoy the Cassini mission while you can. To paraphrase Hunter Thompson, it’s probably the high-water mark.

By: ceramicfundamentalist

ceramicfundamentalist — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 16:37:43 +0000

Nigel (13) said:

“I think Voyager 2 is a stronger contender.

Marginally.”

it would be a great debate to have. i realize of course that voyager 2 completed the grand tour, is one of a handful of probes we have in interstellar space, and will travel quietly through the galaxy for the rest of eternity. that’s some pretty profound stuff. cassini, by comparison, only really knows one planet, and will likely have a rather undignified end when it is smashed into saturn’s atmosphere in a few years.

but there are so many things to love about cassini: the delicious orbital mechanics that carry it through it’s crowded neighbourhood; its long and intimate relationship with its host planet; the painfully slow and tantalizing way it is revealing titan to us; the discovery and repeated observations of geysers on a snowball; and yes, the thousands of MIND-BLOWING photos. gets me excited just thinking about it.

By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 15:18:28 +0000

I, too, feel sorry for those who can’t appreciate the magnitude of endeavors like Cassini and the photos that result. I don’t mean to cast aspersions, but I think most people are too small-minded and self-focused to appreciate anything beyond their little lives and the people in them. Kind of like ants.

I’m so tired of hearing the idiots who believe the moon landings were a conspiracy, but I’m just as tired of people (some of whom are my friends), telling me that any money spent on space exploration is wasted because it could be helping people on earth. I don’t even have the patience or energy any more to argue back.

By: Ron Sharp

Ron Sharp — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 14:37:27 +0000

During the Voyager 1 flyby of Saturn, radio amateurs at JPL retransmitted the images over slow scan TV as they came in. Sitting in the university ham station watching as the images came in “live” was an amazing experience, especially in those pre-Internet days.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 14:25:37 +0000

Question:
Why do saturn’s rings appear contiguous in space probe images? Is it because of the exposure time for the photo? If I were at that distance viewing with my eyes, would i see them a composed of dust and rocks?

By: Ian Regan

Ian Regan — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 13:33:48 +0000

Cassini recently snapped a dramatic view of Mimas from high above its north pole:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10795027@N08/7164047773/

By: Nigel Depledge

Nigel Depledge — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 12:13:16 +0000

Ceramicfundamentalist (5) said:

the more i see, read and think about the cassini mission the more i become convinced that it is possibly the most astonishing, profound, beautiful thing humankind has ever done.

I think Voyager 2 is a stronger contender.

Marginally.