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APOD: Titan, Rings, and Saturn from Cassini (2011 Mar 08)
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 5:06 am
by APOD Robot
Titan, Rings, and Saturn from Cassini
Explanation: How thin are the rings of Saturn?
Brightness measurements from different angles have shown
Saturn's rings to be about one kilometer thick, making them many times thinner, in relative proportion, than a
razor blade. This thinness
sometimes appears in
dramatic fashion during an image taken nearly along the ring plane. The
robot Cassini spacecraft now orbiting
Saturn has now captured another shot that dramatically highlights the ring's thinness. The
above image was taken in mid January in
infrared and
polarized light.
Titan looms just over the thin rings, while dark
ring shadows on Saturn show the Sun to be above the
ring plane.
Close inspection of the image will show the smaller moon
Enceladus on the far right. Cassini, humanity's first mission to orbit
Saturn, currently has
operations planned until 2017.
[/b]
HTML bug
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 5:32 am
by niraj
There is some problem in today's HTML, that is causing text and links to be rendered incorrectly on at least 2 browsers (Firefox and Opera on Linux).
The second sentence now reads as:
Saturn's rings to be about one kilometer thick...
instead of
Brightness measurements from different angles have shown Saturn's rings to be about one kilometer thick...
.
A similar problem is present in the "Explanation" on the discuss page. Here is how the first 2 sentences appear:
Oh, just noticed that the discuss page looks fine now, but not the main page.
Re: APOD: Titan, Rings, and Saturn from Cassini (2011 Mar 08
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 5:37 am
by Guest
The whole thing should be re-written by someone paying attention.
Re: APOD: Titan, Rings, and Saturn from Cassini (2011 Mar 08
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 5:44 am
by Benbrilling
"many times thinner, in relative proportion, than a razor blade." doesn't make any sort of sense. In proportion to what?
Re: APOD: Titan, Rings, and Saturn from Cassini (2011 Mar 08
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 5:46 am
by niraj
Benbrilling wrote:"many times thinner , in proportion, than a razor blade." doesn't make any sort of sense. In proportion to what?
Yea, I agree, that too!
Re: APOD: Titan, Rings, and Saturn from Cassini (2011 Mar 08
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 5:59 am
by bystander
There is an error in the html. The editors have been notified.
Re: APOD: Titan, Rings, and Saturn from Cassini (2011 Mar 08
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 6:08 am
by bystander
Benbrilling wrote:"many times thinner, in relative proportion, than a razor blade." doesn't make any sort of sense. In proportion to what?
1 km in proportion to the overall size of the rings
is thinner, relatively speaking, than the edge of a razor blade in proportion to its size.
Re: APOD: Titan, Rings, and Saturn from Cassini (2011 Mar 08
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 7:38 am
by owlice
Oooooooooohhhhhhh.......!!!!!!!!!
Re: APOD: Titan, Rings, and Saturn from Cassini (2011 Mar 08
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 1:27 pm
by paulwallace
Look to the far left of the large image. Is that Janus/Epimetheus just beyond the F ring? Or have I had too much coffee this morning?
Re: APOD: Titan, Rings, and Saturn from Cassini (2011 Mar 08
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 1:59 pm
by NoelC
paulwallace wrote:have I had too much coffee this morning?
Is that actually possible? It's a depressing thought. And here I thought all those sparkles in my vision were just cosmic ray hits!
For sure, something's out there just at the tip.
-Noel
Re: APOD: Titan, Rings, and Saturn from Cassini (2011 Mar 08
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 2:08 pm
by csudhind@gmail.com
The "Close Inspection" URL takes me to the following page:
http://charleykanesfunhouse.com/wp-cont ... e-raid.jpg
which is a photo of what looks like a Labrador Retriever taking a quick drink from a commode. Not sure how that relates to APOD! Maybe some act of mental legerdemain that I am unable to make?!
Re: APOD: Titan, Rings, and Saturn from Cassini (2011 Mar 08
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 2:29 pm
by NoelC
csudhind@gmail.com wrote:a photo of what looks like a Labrador Retriever taking a quick drink from a commode. Not sure how that relates to APOD!
They do that as a punishment to those who don't follow the links. Only the folks following all the links get to have a little humor in their day.
-Noel
Re: APOD: Titan, Rings, and Saturn from Cassini (2011 Mar 08
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 2:39 pm
by JuanAustin
thrilling picture!
regarding enceladus, is it assumed that as time passes, will it completely spew itself out completely, leaving nothing behind except the e-ring it is forming? are the other rings remnants of previously existing moons ground by the tidal forces of saturn over time?
Re: APOD: Titan, Rings, and Saturn from Cassini (2011 Mar 08
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 4:00 pm
by BMAONE23
paulwallace wrote:Look to the far left of the large image. Is that Janus/Epimetheus just beyond the F ring? Or have I had too much coffee this morning?
Relatively speaking, these two moons sit about half the "A" ring distance away from the "F" ring but Pandora sits in the right location. You might be correct though, depending on where they were in their orbit at the time the image was taken. With Enceladus in the foreground though, it might even be Mimas at a distance in the background. I too am curious to know which moon is visible at the far left and at the tip of the ring plane but didn't warrant mentioning in the caption
Titan, Enceladus, and Pandora; Saturn and Rings
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 5:09 pm
by Sam
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA12756 wrote:
Original Caption Released with Image:
...
Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is in the center of the image. Titan is 5,150 kilometers, or 3,200 miles, across. The smaller moon Enceladus (504 kilometers, or 313 miles across) is on the far right, appearing just below the rings. The
tiny moon
Pandora (81 kilometers, or 50 miles across) is barely detectable as a speck on the far left, beyond the thin F ring. To enhance visibility, Pandora has been brightened by a factor of two relative to the rest of the image.
...
Re: APOD: Titan, Rings, and Saturn from Cassini (2011 Mar 08
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 6:06 pm
by paulwallace
Yes, Pandora makes sense. Right up against the F. Thanks so much.
Re: APOD: Titan, Rings, and Saturn from Cassini (2011 Mar 08
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 6:09 pm
by MoodyMan
"Close Inspection" when clicked take you to a very sick black cat leaning over a toilet.
Re: APOD: Titan, Rings, and Saturn from Cassini (2011 Mar 08
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 6:36 pm
by BMAONE23
MoodyMan wrote:"Close Inspection" when clicked take you to a very sick black cat leaning over a toilet.
Upon "Closer inspection" it would appear to be a "Possibly Hung Over" Black Dog drinking from the porcelain fountain
Re: APOD: Titan, Rings, and Saturn from Cassini (2011 Mar 08
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 6:41 pm
by neufer
Floating a double-edged razor blade as a compass
bystander wrote:Benbrilling wrote:
"many times thinner, in relative proportion, than a razor blade." doesn't make any sort of sense. In proportion to what?
1 km in proportion to the overall size of the rings
is thinner, relatively speaking, than the edge of a razor blade in proportion to its size.
Another gross understatement
(only understood by those who were shaving back in the 70's):
Double-edged razor blade 39 x 20 x 0.25 mm [125 to 1]
Rings of Saturn 300,000 x 300,000 x 1 km [300,000 to 1]
3 x 3 cm. sheet of Gold Leaf: 30,000 x 30,000 x 0.1 µm [300,000 to 1]
Re: APOD: Titan, Rings, and Saturn from Cassini (2011 Mar 08
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 6:57 pm
by anon
The cat (or dog?) looks like it is just doing a closer inspection of the toilet.
Re: APOD: Titan, Rings, and Saturn from Cassini (2011 Mar 08
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 6:58 pm
by neufer
http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00002946/ wrote:
Pretty picture: Saturn storm
The Planetary Society Blog
By Emily Lakdawalla Mar. 8, 2011
In early 2011 Cassini took several high-resolution panoramas along the enormous storm that had developed in Saturn's northern hemisphere.
This view was captured in an infrared wavelength in which Saturn's atmospheric methane is relatively transparent, yielding tremendous detail of the whorls making up Saturn's weather.
Credit: NASA / JPL / SSI / mosaic by Astro0
Here's a wide-angle view for context,
taken a day earlier, so the details of
the storm are not quite the same: 
Re: APOD: Titan, Rings, and Saturn from Cassini (2011 Mar 08
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 7:47 pm
by biddie67
It's a study in mind control when you look at the so very thin appearance of Saturn's rings and then be told that they are almost a kilometer thick. Being so well-grounded in the sense of distances here on Earth, it takes more than a moment to adjust to the distances indicated by this picture and how far away that Cassini has to be from Saturn to get such a beautifully sharp picture ...
Re: APOD: Titan, Rings, and Saturn from Cassini (2011 Mar 08
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 7:59 pm
by BMAONE23
anon wrote:The cat (or dog?) looks like it is just doing a closer inspection of the toilet.
I think the Dog was out partying too late and is in the throes of a hang over. Perhaps a little "Hair of the Dog" would help
Re: APOD: Titan, Rings, and Saturn from Cassini (2011 Mar 08
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 8:19 pm
by orin stepanek
BMAONE23 wrote:anon wrote:The cat (or dog?) looks like it is just doing a closer inspection of the toilet.
I think the Dog was out partying too late and is in the throes of a hang over. Perhaps a little "Hair of the Dog" would help
Even my Mini Pin would drink from the toilet if I didn't keep her water dish filled. I keep the bowl lid down to keep her safe. As small as she is she might fall in!
Re: APOD: Titan, Rings, and Saturn from Cassini (2011 Mar 08
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 9:31 pm
by Beyond
Just when you think you be inundated by all sorts of technical space jabber, Man's best friend jumps in
(almost) to save the day
