Nitpicker wrote:Sally, I think you should look up the details of the HST images. They are not at all what you think they are, especially the uncertainty map you've re-linked to.
And as for the Moon data, I think you've missed my point completely.
Average Moon albedo = 0.12.
Aristarchus central peaks = 0.183/0.12 ~ 150% of average albedo.
Grimaldi floor = 0.061/0.12 ~ 50% of average albedo.
On Ceres, an albedo 1.09 times the average of ~0.09 would be 1.09*0.09, or a maximum albedo of about 0.10. Basically, the average shade and the brightest shade are really two slightly different shades of dark grey, barely distinguishable to the eye. (Unless you stretch the contrast.)
Dear Nitpicker – Thank you for continuing the dialog.
My understanding is that the histogram image has a precision that forces each pixel to be one of a limited set of values; and the error range for uncertainty is 1 pixel . I visited the page again and this is still my impression, so I am interested to know what the proper interpretation is.
Thank you for more words and explanations about the Moon albedo data. I understand what you are saying and I agree that .09 and .10 are both different shades of dark gray. I still have not received data from a trustworthy source telling us “that the areas of increased reflectiveness have only a 9% higher albedo than the surrounding surface.” The
http://space.io9.com article does not say where the 9% figure is coming from; it could be from old data before the recent approach of DAWN. Please let me know why you trust this reported number.
ALSO I do not think that the Hubble histogram would have 2 pixels of 0.9-1.0 (with 2 pixels of about .6 below and 2 pixels of 0.4 to the right) versus the surrounding gray pixels in the Hubble histogram if the difference was only 9% of .09 (Ceres avg. albedo).
However, I see that my attempt to calculate a percent difference was wrong. If you grant that the lightest spot (i.e. average of 2 brightest pixels) is .9 albedo, then (.9-.09)/.09 --> 900% difference.
I have written to the Media (public) Relations person for the Dawn Mission (at JPL) to see if we can get JPL to release some better albedo data in an upcoming press release. It will probably take months; I hope it's not years. Please let me know if you see any data on Ceres albedo from the DAWN mission.
On another note, please forgive me for dropping you and other readers into the middle of my Mass Vortex theory for formation of the solar system in my first post, with no preamble or preparation or allowances for the need to shift gears from the current paradigm to a new one. I went back a few days ago and could see how jarring and outrageous it must seem to everyone. I truly appreciate the graciousness I have received from you and others.