Re: [meteorite-list] I have it !!! Unbelievable = Kaidun andBuckleboo
Hi Darren, Yes, it's a good site! Try the direct URL of: http://www.meteorites.ru/metengl-e.html There's also a lot more on other meteorites for example: http://www.meteorites.ru/menu/description-e/kaidun-e.html There's a menu at left with the others. Cheers, Jeff - Original Message - From: Darren Garrison To: Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Sent: Monday, September 04, 2006 8:13 AM Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] I have it !!! Unbelievable = Kaidun andBuckleboo On Sun, 3 Sep 2006 15:52:58 -0500, you wrote: And here's a great view Googled out of Russia of the Kaidun Main Mass: http://www.meteorites.ru/images/gor-met/kaidun1c.jpg Backtracking that URL leads to an interesting site. http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?lp=ru_entrurl=ht tp%3a%2f%2fwww.meteorites.ru%2fmetengl.htm After load, press by mouse and without releasing you will rotate occaisonally http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?lp=ru_entrurl=ht tp%3a%2f%2fwww.meteorites.ru%2fimages%2fanimation%2fkarakol3d.html __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
RE: [meteorite-list] SMART-1 SMASHES
Hi, I have another more mundane explanation of the 'square impact flash', looking at the pixel structure of those pictures on the website, (the image is a well compressed jpeg) they appear to have zoomed in on the jpg to show up the flash in as much detail as poss (to the point at which the jpg compression algorithm sqareifies the pixels), I suspect that the image has essentially pixilated (i.e the flash is smaller than the jpeg compression limit. I notice that if you tweak the image in a paint program the square flash is the same size as the surrounding 'square jpeg blocks'. Just one explanation, based on the pics I saw, the other is CCD elements don't respond too well to very sudden changes in brightness and become saturated with zoneing occurring around bright images - so could be an artifact of the ccd chip they imaged it with. Best Mark Ford -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Sterling K. Webb Sent: 03 September 2006 23:36 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Meteorite List Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] SMART-1 SMASHES Hi, All, The space.com story says this (below) is an infrared image. There apparently is no visual light image. Interestingly, the 0.001 second flash is square, just like the spacecraft itself (SMART-1 is a cube just under one meter in dimension). The flash covers a square 22-23 pixels by 22-23 pixels. The webpages for the CFHT say the megacam used on this instrument has a resolution of 0.187 arcsecond per pixel. Assuming that's what was used for these photos, each pixel would resolve about 0.3463 meter at the mean distance of the Moon, and the observed flash would therefore cover a 7.6 to 8.0 meter square. Some of the things I find of interest: Despite being a very, very low grazing impact, the flash is not elongated at all in any direction. It's odd that the corners of the impactor are so well represented, when you would expect a vaporizing impact, necessary to create a crater, to be at least roughly spherical despite the impactor's square shape. Craters are round (or elliptical in the case of a grazing impact), not square, because the energetic event is spherically uniform in force. Are the corners really diffraction spikes in the image? No. The shape is quite different than diffraction spikes in the optics. And the CFHT has no obstructions to cause them... Compare the SMART impact image with this meteoroid impact on the Moon observed May 2, 2006 (although a much bigger hit than SMART-1): http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/13jun_lunarsporadic.html Why square? Frankly, I can think of no way of creating a square flash of light with an impact. But I can think of a scenario that could do it. SMART-1 is an aluminum box one meter square. You can look at the structure of the probe here: http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=31387 The bottom deck is lightened by eight triangular cut-outs that outline its square shape. Assume that it was traveling bottom down when it approached the lunar surface nearly horizontally (1 degree incidence, they said). If the first contact was with the top of a rock that projected a few meters above the surface of the Moon, it could easily have ripped open the bottom, ruptured the hydrazine tanks, and caused a hydrazine flash from INSIDE the square box structure (which now has an open almost-square bottom) which would project a square of light downward onto the otherwise unilluminated lunar surface, producing a geometrically square ground flash. This whole sequence of events might only occupy 1 to 2 milliseconds. After the 1 millisecond of illumination from inside the SMART-1 box, the probe's box structure would be violently tumbling and gyrating from the eccentric partial impact, ricocheting across the lunar surface from one irregular splat to the next, being ripped apart and leaving a trail of debris and regolith gouges across the lunar landscape, instead of a crater. This explanation would imply that we will be unable to detect a crater at the location (because there won't be one), so that's a kind of test of the notion. It's also likely that the debris trail would stretch for some distance; SMART-1 was traveling at 1930 meters per second at impact. Any other explanations of a square impact flash? Sterling K. Webb -- - Original Message - From: Darren Garrison [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Meteorite List meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Sent: Sunday, September 03, 2006 9:18 AM Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] SMART-1 SMASHES http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/smart_1/observation_SMART-1_hawaii_H .jpg http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM2N58ZMRE_index_0.html __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] AD Villalbeto de la Peña 14 5g individual : price reduced !
Hello List, I've decided to reduce the price of the 145 grams Villalbeto de la Peña to 3900 euros including shipment worldwide instead of 5000 euros. That's a great price as you know it's seldom seen on sale. Pictures of the find : http://www.meteor-center.com/vdlp2006/145g/index.htm and http://www.meteor-center.com/vdlp2006/ Regards, Pierre-Marie PELE __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] TEST: Delete
Well, I have stopped receiving email again. Lets see if this makes it through 9/4/06 2:54 pm -Walter Branch __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] TEST: Delete
Hello Everyone, I received several private emails from helpful list members (thanks) but I must be blind. I am trying to edit my account to see if bounced emails are the problem. I clicked on Your Account from the main page. I got a page with options for (1) subscribing (2) logging in as List administrator and (3) unsubscribing So where do I edit my account. -Walter Branch - Original Message - From: Sterling K. Webb [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Walter Branch [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, September 04, 2006 6:07 PM Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] TEST: Delete Hi, Walt, I see you have BellSouth as your ISP, just like I have SBC. DSL Service? The big telco's all have a commercial partnership to handle their email, SBC uses Yahoo. BellSouth too? There was a string of complaints on the List about people with Comcast having this same problem. The solution was: Adam Hupe posted this: You will need to go into your account with Meteoritecentral.com and turn off the disable sending mail due to bounces. If you scroll down in the settings you will find a column of options. It will be the option at the top of this column. Simply click on enable, scroll down to the bottom and then save the new setting. Take Care, Adam This apparently fixed his Comcast problem. Big server outfits frequently have spam controls that will bounce off a flood of email with the same source or the same starting subject [Meteorite List] You might check this. Don't know if it will help. Sterling - - Original Message - From: Walter Branch [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Sterling K. Webb [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, September 04, 2006 3:30 PM Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] TEST: Delete I have not received any since last Friday. -Walter - Original Message - From: Sterling K. Webb [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Walter Branch [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, September 04, 2006 3:23 PM Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] TEST: Delete Received at 2:55 PM EDT. or 1:55 PM CDT, 1 minute later. Quiet on a holiday weekend; only 5 MetList posts (counting this one) on 09/04 since midnight. Sterling -- - Original Message - From: Walter Branch [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Sent: Monday, September 04, 2006 1:54 PM Subject: [meteorite-list] TEST: Delete Well, I have stopped receiving email again. Lets see if this makes it through 9/4/06 2:54 pm -Walter Branch __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] CATCHING THE SMART-1 CRASH FLASH
Hi, All, Catching the flash from SMART-1 crash was not easy. And, if you have the image of long planning, preparation, and testing to do so, prepare to modify that thought somewhat. The CFHT got the job done. But it's clear that space exploration related observation is a kind of orphan: Concerning the ground-based observations, he [Koschny] said he felt that many observers were not really prepared to observe the Moon. They didn't have adequate pre-crash practice sessions, he said, because many astronomers could not obtain enough observing time. Observing time at major facilities is a precious commodity and can be oversubscribed with a variety of astronomical research agendas. 'We should allocate more time to telescopes for observing objects in the Solar System!' Just as when the List had a thread about the reasons why meteoritic scientists can't get their hands on much of the material they need to study, the need (and competition) for the resources to do science that obviously needs to be done is clearly far greater than what is available. To babble about the fate of societies that do not invest in their own future, here on the List, would probably be, as the idom has it, preaching to the choir... Well, maybe I'll go watch the movie 2001 again, fly to the space wheel on Pan-Am, take the shuttle to the Moon, take a crawler tour out to Tranquility Monument, then the monorail down to the SMART crater, and wonder in what year the year 2001 will finally arrive. Happy Laborless Day! Sterling K. Webb -- http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/060904_smart-1_results.html Moon Crash Stirs Up Ideas For The Future By Leonard David Senior Space Writer posted: 04 September 2006 01:52 pm ET In a flash it was over. The European Space Agency's (ESA) SMART-1 spacecraft punched into the Moon's barren surface early Sunday morning. It made an on-purpose plunge and is believed to have slammed into a hillside within the Lake of Excellence, a volcanic plain. It was a destructive ending to a nearly three-year mission of testing space technology and examining Earth's celestial neighbor. The craft's demise is providing valuable insight into future lunar research. The exact impact time of SMART-1 was recorded at 1:42:22 a.m. ET on Sept. 3, when ESA's New Norcia ground station in Australia abruptly lost radio contact with the probe. A global network of professional and amateur ground observers focused their respective instruments on the SMART-1's predicted impact zone. So far, at the top of the hit list is the observation by the Canada-France- Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) from atop Mauna Kea situated on the Big Island of Hawaii. Scientists at CFHT recorded an impact burst, possibly caused by thermal emission from the roughly 4,500 miles per hour (2 kilometers per second) crash of the spacecraft itself, or maybe the detonation of leftover hydrazine fuel onboard SMART-1. Dash for the flash The impacting spacecraft was caught by WIRCam - a wide-field infrared camera at the CFHT that represents one of the largest astronomical mosaic of infrared detectors ever built. But readying the WIRCam to track the Moon, as well as handle SMART-1 duties, was no small effort. A bit of luck was needed, too. It was a literal dash for the flash, explained Christian Veillet, Executive Director of the CFHT. We moved to WIRCam only on Friday evening, not for SMART-1, but because it is part of our operations, Veillet explained. Time was spent that night to check the camera, the pointing, the filter to be used, he said. We had never looked at the Moon with WIRCam, Veillet told SPACE.com. Our brand new field infrared mosaic looks more into deep space than to nearby bodies. Veillet said he and his team had no choice but to use the narrowest filter they had for the camera. Also, they had to use exposure times meant more for observing brown dwarfs or remote galaxies, not for up close and personal Moon watching. Most of Saturday, Veillet said, was busily spent writing scripts to allow the production of decent images in near real time. Then came the evening [of the impact]. Weather was superb, everything worked well and we were lucky enough to capture a flash. Actually, I did not think we would see it, Veillet said. He was anticipating that kicked-up dust might be visible after the impact itself. Right hemisphere at the right time Due to the camera's operating mode, there was a 30-percent chance of simply missing the event by not looking at the right time. The impact happened six seconds after the start of an exposure and four seconds before its end. We saw the flash as soon as the image was processed, Veillet added. The flash looked extremely bright ... much brighter than had been anticipated, he said. Finding the right area on the Moon was difficult due to the
[meteorite-list] Re: Geological History of terrestrial Olivine Bomb?
Gerald Flaherty wrote: I picked up an Olivine Bomb from Norbert and Helke Kammel of Rocks On Fire a couple of years ago when I knew less than I know now of meteorites. It's Location is listed as Mt. Shadwell, Victoria, Australia. At the time the very word olivine immediately brought pallasite to mind. I think I'd just invested in my frist Imilac. This piece is tantalizing in every way, from is thick jet black volcanic crust, to its beautifully polished green interior. Is this terrestrial mantle tossed up in a violent volcanic blast? Are these common? Techincally speaking, they are not volcanic bombs, which are thrown out of volcanoes during eruptions. Rather, they are exotic chunks of rocks, called xenoliths, carried upward by magma as it ascended through the crust. The best preserved xenoliths are those carried up rapidly from deep in the mantle by the formation of diatremes. Mount Shadwell is the highest of a cluster of basaltic scoria cones. It is well known as a source of olivine and augite ultramafic xenoliths and clinopryoxene and orthoclase megacrysts contained in basalts and scoria. My understanding that although such xenoliths can be found in many basaltic lavas, the ones found at Mount Shadwell are uncommon for their size and preservation. The xenoliths found at Mt. Shadwell are inferred to have come from both the lower crust and upper mantle. Some web pages: 1. Mount Shadwell - Victorian Resources Online http://www.nre.vic.gov.au/dpi/vro/coranregn.nsf/pages/eruption_points_shadwell 2. Coexisting Andesitic and Carbonate Melts in a Lherzolite Xenolith from Mt. Shadwell, Victoria http://www.es.mq.edu.au/geology/MNAGC98.html http://www.es.mq.edu.au/geology/MNHP.html 3. Melting and Metasomatism in the Lithospheric Mantle Beneath SE Australia: Trace Element Studies by Laser Microprobe by Marc Norman and Suzanne O'Reilly http://www.es.mq.edu.au/GEMOC/annrep97/abs96/Norm396.htm 4. Roach, I. C., 2004, Mineralogy, Textures and P-T Relationships of a Suite of Xenoliths from the Monaro Volcanic Province, New South Wales, Australia. Journal of Petrology. vol. 45, no. 4, pp. 739-758. http://petrology.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/45/4/739 5. Ellis. D. J., 1976, High pressure cognate inclusions in the Newer Volcanics of Victoria. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology. vol. 58, no. 2, pp. 149-180. http://www.springerlink.com/content/r02x704tlm23w415/ 6. Xenolith http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenolith Yours, Paul H. __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Re: Geological History of terrestrial Olivine Bomb?
Paul, my most heartfelt thanks for your informative reply. All of the sites are added to my Geology favorites. Most interesting that Glass plays such a significant role in volcanic and subterranean processes as it does in meteorite impacts. Now to try to understand some of the relationships ie. pressures and heat and chemical processes as they relate??!... Jerry Flaherty - Original Message - From: Paul [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Sent: Monday, September 04, 2006 7:39 PM Subject: [meteorite-list] Re: Geological History of terrestrial Olivine Bomb? Gerald Flaherty wrote: I picked up an Olivine Bomb from Norbert and Helke Kammel of Rocks On Fire a couple of years ago when I knew less than I know now of meteorites. It's Location is listed as Mt. Shadwell, Victoria, Australia. At the time the very word olivine immediately brought pallasite to mind. I think I'd just invested in my frist Imilac. This piece is tantalizing in every way, from is thick jet black volcanic crust, to its beautifully polished green interior. Is this terrestrial mantle tossed up in a violent volcanic blast? Are these common? Techincally speaking, they are not volcanic bombs, which are thrown out of volcanoes during eruptions. Rather, they are exotic chunks of rocks, called xenoliths, carried upward by magma as it ascended through the crust. The best preserved xenoliths are those carried up rapidly from deep in the mantle by the formation of diatremes. Mount Shadwell is the highest of a cluster of basaltic scoria cones. It is well known as a source of olivine and augite ultramafic xenoliths and clinopryoxene and orthoclase megacrysts contained in basalts and scoria. My understanding that although such xenoliths can be found in many basaltic lavas, the ones found at Mount Shadwell are uncommon for their size and preservation. The xenoliths found at Mt. Shadwell are inferred to have come from both the lower crust and upper mantle. Some web pages: 1. Mount Shadwell - Victorian Resources Online http://www.nre.vic.gov.au/dpi/vro/coranregn.nsf/pages/eruption_points_shadwell 2. Coexisting Andesitic and Carbonate Melts in a Lherzolite Xenolith from Mt. Shadwell, Victoria http://www.es.mq.edu.au/geology/MNAGC98.html http://www.es.mq.edu.au/geology/MNHP.html 3. Melting and Metasomatism in the Lithospheric Mantle Beneath SE Australia: Trace Element Studies by Laser Microprobe by Marc Norman and Suzanne O'Reilly http://www.es.mq.edu.au/GEMOC/annrep97/abs96/Norm396.htm 4. Roach, I. C., 2004, Mineralogy, Textures and P-T Relationships of a Suite of Xenoliths from the Monaro Volcanic Province, New South Wales, Australia. Journal of Petrology. vol. 45, no. 4, pp. 739-758. http://petrology.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/45/4/739 5. Ellis. D. J., 1976, High pressure cognate inclusions in the Newer Volcanics of Victoria. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology. vol. 58, no. 2, pp. 149-180. http://www.springerlink.com/content/r02x704tlm23w415/ 6. Xenolith http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenolith Yours, Paul H. __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] SMART-1 impact
Hi Doug and List, I don't know if I'm the first to notice this but the effect of the lunar impact is still visible in the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope image 15 seconds after impact. Check the frame immediately after the bright impact frame in the movie below, and you'll see a small lingering white spot centered exactly on where the impact flash was in the prior frame: http://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/News/Smart1/anim2.gif http://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/News/Smart1/anim2.gif --Rob __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Re: Geological History of terrestrial Olivine Bomb?
A little closer to home, you can collect these in the maars of southern New Mexico like Kilbourne Hole and Riley Maar. And, these would be maars rocks! ;-) Chauncey __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Rocks From Space Picture of the Day - September 4, 2006
http://www.spacerocksinc.com/September_4.html __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Mars Exploration Rover Update - September 1, 2006
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status.html#opportunity OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Inching Closer to 'Victoria' - sol 920-927, September 1, 2006: Opportunity is healthy and still 218 meters (715 feet) from Victoria Crater. Over the weekend, the rover's shoulder azimuth joint stalled as Opportunity was trying to start measurements on a trench it dug on Sol 919 (Aug. 25, 2006). Consequently, all weekend arm activities were aborted, but remote science activities were executed as planned. Beginning on Sol 923, rover arm diagnostic measurements were taken as well as some remote sensing science. Results from the diagnostics revealed neither cause nor any damage to the stalled joint. On Sol 924, the arm performed flawlessly as Opportunity successfully completed the activities originally planned for Sol 920. On Sols 925, 926 and 927 Opportunity collected more arm diagnostics (to ensure the stow before drive would go smoothly) as well as completing all arm activities originally planned over the weekend. Sol-by-sol summaries: Sol 920 (Aug. 26, 2006): Opportunity did a miniature thermal emission spectrometer observation and other activities were aborted due to the arm stall. Sol 921: The rover took a panoramic camera image. Sol 922: Opportunity used its panoramic camera and miniature thermal emission spectrometer. Sol 923: The rover conducted arm diagnostics and took panoramic camera and miniature thermal emission spectrometer observations. Sol 924: Completing the activities originally planned for sol 920, Opportunity took a microscopic image and did an alpha particle X-ray spectrometer observation. Sol 925: The rover continued to do arm diagnostics and completed a Moessbauer spectrometer observation - a completion of sol 921's originally planned activities. Sol 926: Opportunity continued to do arm diagnostics and completed activities originally planned for sol 922 by taking microscopic images and using the Moessbauer spectrometer. Sol 927: On this sol, the rover used its Moessbauer spectrometer. As of sol 925 (August 31, 2006), Opportunity's total odometry was 9,023.70 meters (5.61 miles). __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] SMART-1 Swan Song: Valuable Data Until Final Moments
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMC378ZMRE_index_0.html SMART-1 swan song: valuable data until final moments European Space Agency 4 September 2006 Right up to its final orbits, SMART-1 continued delivering valuable data, extending the mission's legacy as a technology and scientific success. Scientists and engineers met today at ESOC to review mission achievements including final AMIE camera images. At a press event held today at ESA's Spacecraft Operations Centre (ESOC), SMART-1 engineers, operations experts and scientists are presenting data and preliminary results obtained by the spacecraft prior to its impact on the Moon at 07:42 CEST [05:42 UT], 3 September 2006. Perhaps the most sentimental image sequence was taken by AMIE just four days before impact, on 29 August at 21:00 CEST (19:00 UT), when the camera was pointed back towards the Earth to capture, in the best tradition of many previous lunar missions, a view of our home planet. The sequence of images is centred over Brazil at approximately 44.9 deg West and 19.2 deg South (North is to the left). The Kourou area in French Guiana, from where SMART-1 was launched in 2003, is also visible. Remarkably, this movie sequence shows the Moon passing in front of the Earth, beautifully underlining the close gravitational relationship between the Earth and its natural satellite. Final orbits offered new imaging opportunities During SMART-1's final orbits on 1 and 2 September, the spacecraft was passing at extremely low altitude over the Moon's surface, which was in darkness, prompting scientists to take advantage of this unique observational situation by pointing the AMIE camera laterally toward the Moon's limb (horizon). The camera gathered images of the thin dust envelope surrounding the Moon, which will be analysed by scientists in the future. As a result, the best final images from AMIE were taken on 2 September; seven of these were posted on the ESA Portal on 3 September and, together with additional images from the set, these have been combined into a pair of movie sequences. The images were taken between 15:19-17:34 CEST (17:19-19:34 UT). The sequences show the surface of the Moon passing under SMART-1 during the final orbits and show what a passenger on board the spacecraft would have seen shortly before impact and destruction. AMIE mosaic of geologically important southern region Other SMART-1 results presented today include a mosaic of AMIE nadir (vertical pointing) images showing a 400-km-long area inside the Moon South Pole-Aitken Basin (SPA), the largest and oldest known impact crater basin in the solar system and the deepest depression in the Moon. The basin is 2600 km in diameter and extends from the South Pole to the Aitken Crater, located at 173.4 deg East and 16.8 deg South. AMIE was able to image the area under ideal illumination conditions, which will afford scientists an opportunity to compare AMIE images with existing data of the same area gathered by previous lunar missions. These images can help us understand the surface morphology, formation and evolution of the South Pole-Aitken Basin. This type of nadir observation provides the geological context of the area, and will help further extend our knowledge of the Moon's geology, said Jean-Luc Josset, AMIE Principal Investigator, SPACE-X (Space Exploration Institute), Neuchatel, Switzerland. In fact, scientists intend to compare the AMIE visible images of the South Pole-Aitken Basin morphology to those previously captured by the camera using the 'push-broom', three-colour filter mode. The push-broom images give information on the Moon's surface composition and mineralogy, and a comparison between the two sets is expected to increase understanding of the Moon's overall surface composition. Illumination conditions at North Pole Another AMIE mosaic presented today shows the Moon's North polar area and was taken during first phase of the SMART-1 mission in 2005. This mosaic is valuable as it shows illumination conditions at the region. It is important to understand global illumination conditions, as this will help in planning the location of future landing sites and, later, possible bases on the Moon. Successful AMIE performance The image sets shown today illustrate the successful technology and tremendous results of the AMIE (Advanced Moon micro-Imager Experiment) camera throughout SMART-1's 36-month mission. Originally designed to capture just four images per orbit, AMIE exceeded all expectations and actually averaged 100 images per rotation, generating a final library of some 20 000 images. Following the early decision to redesign the science orbit and lower the apolune (point of highest approach) from 10 000 to 3000 km over the lunar North pole, AMIE was able to adjust to the large number of imaging commands and complex operations that were introduced. This decision allowed AMIE not only to take sharp images of the South Pole as planned, but also to study the
Re: [meteorite-list] SMART-1 impact
Hi, Rob, Gee, Rob, now I know why you find things! The 11th frame has the impact. The 12th frame has a brightened patch two pixels wide and five pixels high. The 13th frame has a less bright but still over-brightened patch two pixels wide and two pixels high, which are in the same position as the upper 4 pixels of the 12th frame patch. In the 14th frame and the 11th frame, this same area is completely cool, much grayer. So, the heating effect persisted for more than 30 seconds (the frame rate was 15 seconds exposure per frame, and you have to read out the chip between frames). If anyone else wants to see the effect, load the animated gif file into Photoshop which will separate the frames as layers. I enlarged the impact point to a 2000% view in a window framed around the edges of the flash in frame 11, then switched from layer to layer to layer. Rob, if you found this with your bare eyeballs, from just watching the gif, I congratulate you. It's invisible to me at that size! A little poking around in the ESA website reveals that SMART-1 came in from the north in a polar orbit, so I will hypothesize that the top four pixels where the heat persists through two frames is the impact point itself and the six pixels below it are the splash of the low inclination impact, hot debris and ejecta being thrown out in a blanket that extends mostly to the south of the crater. You know how I like to hypothesize... As to pixel size translation to actual ground size, we can forget it -- not enough data. Instead of the megacam they talk about on the CFHT website, they used their new WIRcam, a wide angle IR sensor, so no idea of pixel-ground size. However, Lehmann C crater is 16 kilometers in diameter and is eight pixels wide in the image, so -- just a wild guess -- 2 kilometers to the pixel? Just in case anyone has a telescope big enough to search for a 10-meter crater (like a 10-meter scope in orbit, say), the ESA website has a very detailed Observing Guide to the impact site: http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=39863 The reason Rob finds things? He looks for them! Sterling K. Webb -- - Original Message - From: Matson, Robert [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Sent: Monday, September 04, 2006 8:19 PM Subject: [meteorite-list] SMART-1 impact Hi Doug and List, I don't know if I'm the first to notice this but the effect of the lunar impact is still visible in the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope image 15 seconds after impact. Check the frame immediately after the bright impact frame in the movie below, and you'll see a small lingering white spot centered exactly on where the impact flash was in the prior frame: http://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/News/Smart1/anim2.gif http://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/News/Smart1/anim2.gif --Rob __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Returning To Sample Mars
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Returning_To_Sample_Mars_999.html Returning To Sample Mars SpaceDaily September 5, 2006 Washington DC (SPX) - At the recent Viking thirtieth anniversary celebration, Noel Hinners championed what could be the next great challenge for planetary science: a Mars Sample Return mission. Hinners pointed out that, like Viking, Mars Sample Return will prove to be extremely difficult but immeasurably rewarding. For a Mars Sample Return mission, a rover would collect samples of rocks, soils, and the atmosphere, and then a rocket would blast off the surface of Mars and carry the samples to Earth for detailed analysis. While some people are opposed to bringing samples of Mars to Earth, the truth is that martian rocks are already here. To date, 34 martian meteorites have been collected from various sites all over the world. These rocks traveled to Earth after having been blasted off the surface of Mars by a comet or asteroid impact. Even though scientists can study these meteorites to learn more about Mars, the rocks have been altered because they went through a lot to get here -- the explosion that first sent them flying off the martian surface, the cold, radiation, and vacuum of space, and then the fiery descent through Earth's atmosphere. As Hinners explains in this edited transcript, a Mars Sample Return mission could provide generations of researchers with a variety of more pristine and scientifically interesting samples to study. One of the big challenges facing NASA today is Mars Sample Return. Mars Sample Return has been on the agenda for a long time, well before the late 60s, even before the Viking orbiter and lander. Like Viking, Mars Sample Return is a daunting technological and engineering challenge with an incredible scientific payoff. So what did we learn from Viking that might help us figure out how, within our lifetimes, to do Mars Sample Return? Viking was viewed as incredibly challenging and complex, both for the technical and the science aspects. Looking for life is not an easy thing to do. There are many arguments about how to detect life when you don't know what that life is like. You have so many assumptions and analogies with terrestrial life as we know it. Before Viking, the martian atmosphere was poorly known, the surface was poorly known, and the surface environment was poorly known. Some people viewed this whole endeavor as verging on insanity. One effect of the probable Viking detection of no life, if you call that a detection, was that it slowed down the exploration of Mars for several decades. Soon after Viking, I went to the Soviet Union, which also had a very vigorous Mars program, and I asked them about their next Mars missions. They said, There aren't any. I asked why not, and they said, You've killed them off. You didn't find life. So this quest for life has an incredible influence in the Mars program. Now there's been a revival of the potential for life on Mars, with the recent MER findings of the ancient presence of pervasive water. The science imperative for Mars Sample Return is equally compelling to what Viking was looking for, and in many ways associated with some of the same goals related to life. Impediments to doing Mars Sample Return have been technical and, in large part, budgetary. There's a lot of critical science that simply can not be done in situ. We're getting much better with our instrumentation to send to Mars, but we still cannot do certain things. The MER mission discovered what are called blueberries, these little round ball bearing-sized, millimeter-sized things. It would be wonderful to have those back here, in blueberry crumb cake. To dissect them, to see the layering in them, to do the isotopic study as a function of depth to understand the history of the water interaction with these materials, to look at the mineral phases and understand how they formed. For something like the Mars meteorite ALH 84001, it can be looked at on the atomic scale here. You simply cannot manipulate and do the analysis on samples remotely with any of today's technology, or with anything we can see coming down in the near future. In the Stardust grains that came back recently, a zircon was found. This was at the micron scale, showing a high temperature mineral which isn't supposed to exist in comets. Remote sensing had never shown this before, and it has changed the way we think about where comets are coming from. What part of the origin of the solar system do they relate to? Is this a remnant of some previous generation of a star which exploded and ejected material into the solar system during its formation? More recently, in another Mars meteorite, there are little channels that it's very tempting to think may be what are called DNA tunnels. Probably not likely, but nevertheless it's at this scale where we see what is really going on. Essential to Mars human exploration is understanding the chemically active material. Dust is
[meteorite-list] Re: SMART-1 impact
Hello Rob, Very nice catch in the 12th inning (frame) there! No one else has mentioned that in anything we've read until now, why don't you email the ESA project manager? I don't have a stacking software to subtract out a baseline from the other frames but I bet you do. By eye it looks like it is on at least 3x4 pixels (probably affecting a 2km x 2km area. That's pretty amazing (HUGE) after you think about it - 15 seconds later - considering the size of the craft. Probably gives insight to kinetic energy diffusion, besides a precise location of the impact... Wow! That would be the second image :-) as late as 5:42:30.93 UT. I doubt that the detector recovery would have anything to do with it and it is way above the noise level. Clear eyes, Doug - Original Message - From: Matson, Robert [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Sent: Monday, September 04, 2006 8:19 PM Subject: SMART-1 impact Hi Doug and List, I don't know if I'm the first to notice this but the effect of the lunar impact is still visible in the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope image 15 seconds after impact. Check the frame immediately after the bright impact frame in the movie below, and you'll see a small lingering white spot centered exactly on where the impact flash was in the prior frame: http://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/News/Smart1/anim2.gif http://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/News/Smart1/anim2.gif --Rob __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
