by zloq » Tue Dec 06, 2011 3:19 pm
OK - this is a nice view of Jupiter - but I do not think this is an actual view of it rotating over time. It appears to be a static map of surface detail acquired over several days of imaging that was then mapped onto Jupiter's shape and rendered in a rotating animation. There are at least two seams evident during the "rotation." It is still a very good result - as are other planetary works I have seen by the same people using the same equipment at the same observatory - but I don't think it should be presented as an actual time lapse animation of Jupiter rotating. It's particularly unfortunate since the caption implies you can see differential rotation of the clouds. I don't think they are "moving" at all and it is instead just rigid rotation of a texture-mapped grapefruit shape, with a lighting model to simulate limb-darkening.
Here is a related video that describes Jupiter's "map" acquired during several nights in mid-October:
http://vimeo.com/31170870
A "map" is a better way to describe what's being shown here. A stitched together, high-res mosaic of images with mostly clean seams, mapped onto Jupiter's shape and slowly rotated synthetically.
It's very weird because the caption says you can see clouds moving, but also says it was acquired from images taken over the last year. How could you acquire them over a year and mush them into a smooth animation showing rotation and cloud motion? Instead, it is a static mosaic from a few days of imaging during which Jupiter didn't change much, and with at least a couple hard to fix seams. Still a good result - but different from what's being suggested by the caption. This is another case where details provided by the imaging team would be helpful, if not essential.
zloq
OK - this is a nice view of Jupiter - but I do not think this is an actual view of it rotating over time. It appears to be a static map of surface detail acquired over several days of imaging that was then mapped onto Jupiter's shape and rendered in a rotating animation. There are at least two seams evident during the "rotation." It is still a very good result - as are other planetary works I have seen by the same people using the same equipment at the same observatory - but I don't think it should be presented as an actual time lapse animation of Jupiter rotating. It's particularly unfortunate since the caption implies you can see differential rotation of the clouds. I don't think they are "moving" at all and it is instead just rigid rotation of a texture-mapped grapefruit shape, with a lighting model to simulate limb-darkening.
Here is a related video that describes Jupiter's "map" acquired during several nights in mid-October:
http://vimeo.com/31170870
A "map" is a better way to describe what's being shown here. A stitched together, high-res mosaic of images with mostly clean seams, mapped onto Jupiter's shape and slowly rotated synthetically.
It's very weird because the caption says you can see clouds moving, but also says it was acquired from images taken over the last year. How could you acquire them over a year and mush them into a smooth animation showing rotation and cloud motion? Instead, it is a static mosaic from a few days of imaging during which Jupiter didn't change much, and with at least a couple hard to fix seams. Still a good result - but different from what's being suggested by the caption. This is another case where details provided by the imaging team would be helpful, if not essential.
zloq