Updates Dawn Mission News

[RGClark]

...
The next orbit is called Survey.

Can't wait to closest approach!

Bob Clark

 

[n122vu]

This one is centred on another interesting surface feature, possibly a cryovolcano.

Let the song of the 'Pyramids-were-built-by-aliens' believers begin...

 

[fsci123]

Closest pic yet

http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/image-detail.html?id=PIA19559

 

[RGClark]

Closest pic yet

http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/image-detail.html?id=PIA19559

Thanks for that. The Survey mission orbits scheduled to begin June 6th will be at 3 times closer distance, so 3 times better resolution.
The closest orbits and best image resolution will be in December.

Bob Clark

 

[Cairan]

Please tell me that they a spectrometer on board to point at these bright spots down in that crater!

 

[fsci123]

Anyone notice those striations embedded in the craters? I wonder if the bright spots and the ridges are connected?

 

[Unstung]

JPL: "Dawn Spirals Closer to Ceres, Returns a New View"

A new view of Ceres, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft on May 23, shows finer detail is becoming visible on the dwarf planet. The spacecraft snapped the image at a distance of 3,200 miles (5,100 kilometers) with a resolution of 1,600 feet (480 meters) per pixel. The image is part of a sequence taken for navigational purposes.

[...]

 

[RGClark]

The Survey mission begins Saturday, June 6 at 410 meters per pixel. Closest approach at 35 meters per pixel will be in December.
Perhaps we can have a countdown clock til then?

Bob Clark

 

[RGClark]

Bright spots still mysterious at closer mapping distance:

Get up close with Ceres' weird bright spots in new NASA photo.
NASA's Dawn spacecraft cozies up to the fascinating dwarf planet Ceres and sends back the best look yet at its oddball bright spots.
by Amanda Kooser @akooser 10 June 2015 6:16 pm BST
http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/get-up-close-with-ceres-weird-bright-spots-in-new-nasa-photo/


Bob Clark

 

[Thunder Chicken]

I hope the bright spots remain mysterious, for a while anyway. If a scientist doesn't get awestruck at the answer, wait a while to give up the answer.

 

[Ravenous]

Did anyone notice the dark "streak" above the white spots? I didn't until I saw it mentioned on another forum (cloudy nights). Anyone have any guesses what this might be, or is it just an unrelated mark?

 

[Keatah]

I wanted these white spots to be something cool and radical. Instead they'll turn out to be something mundane. Always is that way..unfortunately.

 

[RGClark]

I wanted these white spots to be something cool and radical. Instead they'll turn out to be something mundane. Always is that way..unfortunately.

Even if it turns out to be ice, that would give support for the idea there is subsurface water, ice or liquid, on Ceres.

Even carbonate or sulfate would be interesting because they would require, at some point in Ceres past, liquid water.

Bob Clark

 

[fsci123]

Isn't the surface of Ceres just a dust shell over ice?

---------- Post added at 01:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:50 AM ----------

http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/image-detail.html?id=PIA19566

This image of Ceres is part of a sequence taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft on May 22, 2015, from a distance of 3,200 miles (5,100 kilometers) with a resolution of 1,600 feet (480 meters) per pixel.

 

[RGClark]

Someone suggested the bright spots are overexposed. Could reducing the exposure level increase the detail visible in the spots?

Bright Spots in Ceres' Second Mapping Orbit

http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/dawn/pia19568/bright-spots-in-ceres-second-mapping-orbit


Bob Clark

 

[Cairan]

Someone suggested the bright spots are overexposed. Could reducing the exposure level increase the detail visible in the spots?

Bright Spots in Ceres' Second Mapping Orbit

http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/dawn/pia19568/bright-spots-in-ceres-second-mapping-orbit


Bob Clark

Yes and no.

The spots are pretty much at the top of the sensor scale, so underexposing the scene would most probably help to have better emissivity characteristics and information on the source... eventually.

That being said, it wouldn't help with the resolution, hence the details, yet. When Dawn gets to lower orbits and has better resolution per pixel, it will be worth it to customize the exposure specifically for the spots, but as long as they are only a few bright pixels, it wouldn't tell us that much more.

I do Landsat imagery analysis (partly ) for a living... Ohhh what I'd give to put my hands on multispectral imagery of Ceres!

 

[fsci123]

New hi red images of spot-1... Which is dimmer than all the other spots we've been posting about.

http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19573

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet (410 meters) per pixel, was taken on June 6, 2015.

 

[Cairan]

Without spectral data, I don't dare to speculate ... but it looks to me that it might not seem so bright due to the angles of illumination and reflection... There seems to be awfully bright spots at the crater rim.

Another thing is how shallow the craters seem to be, compared to say those on the Moon... It might confirm that under the surface, it is composed of a material which would rebound more, or fill the craters back... say ... ice?

 

[RisingFury]

If I remember correctly, the relative density of impactor / target also plays a role in the depth of the target...

 

[fsci123]

Without spectral data, I don't dare to speculate ... but it looks to me that it might not seem so bright due to the angles of illumination and reflection... There seems to be awfully bright spots at the crater rim.

Another thing is how shallow the craters seem to be, compared to say those on the Moon... It might confirm that under the surface, it is composed of a material which would rebound more, or fill the craters back... say ... ice?

Water ice should be found at relatively shallow depths from the rocky surface...