[extropy-chat] re: Raw Saturn ring images ready

[Amara Graps]

Again, regarding this image...

>Mike Lorrey:
>>This image:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/gs2.cgi?path=../multimedia/images/rings/images/SOI9.jpg&type=image

>>is extremely curious. The spiralling waves appear to be the
>>dissolution of spokes, [...]
>>or is this an effect of frame dragging

I said:
>I could be wrong since I don't know the sequencing of
>the ring images, but that image looks like a high resolution
>Encke Gap image with the wavy edges gravitationally affected
>by Pan.

>Pan, the moonlet, was discovered in that gap in old Voyager
>data by  Mark Showalter in 1990. See:

>http://ringmaster.arc.nasa.gov/saturn/vgr2_pps/ppssaturn37.html
>http://www.star.ucl.ac.uk/~apod/solarsys/eng/pan.htm

Yes, checking..  it is the Encke Gap... I was so calm
and sure about what it could be last night, since the
images are not labelled in the press release,
but now that image has  sunk into my brain.

I must say :

WOW !!  THIS IMAGE IS  ** AMAZING **  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am accustomed to seeing the Encke Gap in images only a few pixels
wide (from Voyager mostly), and now I'm in awe.  I'll bet
Mark Showalter is bouncing off the ceiling with that image.


( and this is only the *beginning* of the orbit tour !)

Amara

-- 

********************************************************************
Amara Graps, PhD          email: amara at amara.com
Computational Physics     vita:  ftp://ftp.amara.com/pub/resume.txt
Multiplex Answers         URL:   http://www.amara.com/
********************************************************************
"Somewhere something incredible is waiting to be known."
    -- Isaac Asimov