April 3, 2024 Dear Friends, On this day, 20 years ago and a billion miles from here, our Cassini cameras acquired a series of images that nicely demonstrates what knowledge can be gained by viewing only a narrow slice of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Excellent post! As a wildlife biologist, I think all the time about the way other life forms experience the Earth, be it through seeing different wavelengths of light, hearing different wavelengths of sound, or smelling/feeling things that are totally undetectable by humans. Designing observatories and cameras to see what we cannot is certainly not too nerdy and well worth knowing. I look at it as widening the horizons in the way we humans can experience the universe (or multiverse). The decisions about how the JWST was designed to work are a great example.
Thank you. I'm thinking I could have left out the numerical values of the wavelengths of the UV, near-IR, etc, and it would have been less geeky. We'll see if I get any 'How could you be so geeky?' comments ;-) Nice to have a wildlife biologist onboard!
As a layperson, sometimes I need to read the wavelengthy nano-speak parts a couple of times, but it all makes perfect sense because you have the uncommon skill of being able to convey robust scientific principles in ways that read like an unfolding mystery tale. This is great writing Carolyn, and more importantly - cool af.
Você é um ser humano especial. Além da importância de seu trabalho e do entusiasmo contagiante , quando por exemplo, noticiou as descobertas em Titan, seu "presta atenção" (termo usado no Brasil, significa "heads up") em Elon Nozzle Musk foi lindo !
Eu trabalho em um pequeno observatório (Jean Nicolini) do município de Campinas - SP e ficaríamos muito gratos se Ganhássemos uma foto autografada !
I love it all ....Nerdy is good I have no problem with it .....If I don't understand a word or phrase I look it up ...Broadening my knowledge base ......Keep up the good work ....A quote from Shogun ..." Isn't man but a blossom taken by the wind, and only the mountains and the sea and the stars and this Land of the Gods real and everlasting?" You are taking us on that journey as your guests
Not in the least, although it does help ,by doing amateur photography and low budget amateur astronomy, content is just about right for ,geeks and non geeks too!! Take much care out there!! Mr.t
I think interested people don’t mind getting in a little over their heads… And spending a bit more time trying to understand, only increases the appreciation for the effort involved
Caroline, greatly enthused by your recaps of Wonderfull Cassini!! Makes very interesting reading ,good content building up bit by bit, drawing you into the content, and experiencing the excitement of discovery, full of awe, and beutifull to read and see for ourselves ,what really went on!! Thrilled keep it up , mrt
Since you asked.....the technical jargon of the camera, the wavelengths of the optics probably zoomed over most folk's heads....what amazes me, still, is the fact that even never having been there, the robot's instruments were designed perfectly for the mission. You would know, Carolyn.....did any of the instruments on the spacecraft fail during the mission?
Well, the visible imager on the VIMS instrument -- Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer -- failed I believe. If not fully, than in some way. I don't think it was used much. And there was a failure in the communication system on the Huygens Probe that looked like it was going to be impossible to communicate with the Orbiter. I hope I'm remembering this correctly. Obviously, for my book, I'll get the story right. But the engineers at JPL figured out a way to accommodate the failed mode. In the end, it worked enough to re-write the textbooks.
Every time I see an image of Saturn it makes me feel that it is calling to us asking us when we are going to see it with our own eyes. Hopefully I will live to see the first crewed mission and if we’re really lucky we will see for real what filmmaker Erik Wernquist imagined in his new short film One Revolution Per Minute; got me really fired up! 🪐
Greetings Koba! I doubt I'll live long enough to see the first manned mission to the gas giants of our solar system....but not to worry! I am in the process of writing a book (fiction, of course) about the first manned mission to explore the dark seas of Europa and the wonders that await there under the ice.
Right now as far as we know, the ocean under Europa is inaccessible. How about siting your story on Enceladus ... An object where we know with great certainty it's ocean is very accessible.
thank you for all your hard work carolyn
Thank you, Patrick!
Ahhh. Thanks for this. Such an incredible story of ingenuity and dedication.
Fascinating description of the imaging strategy. I look forward to hearing more about the mission in due course. Thank you for doing this blog.
Excellent post! As a wildlife biologist, I think all the time about the way other life forms experience the Earth, be it through seeing different wavelengths of light, hearing different wavelengths of sound, or smelling/feeling things that are totally undetectable by humans. Designing observatories and cameras to see what we cannot is certainly not too nerdy and well worth knowing. I look at it as widening the horizons in the way we humans can experience the universe (or multiverse). The decisions about how the JWST was designed to work are a great example.
Thank you. I'm thinking I could have left out the numerical values of the wavelengths of the UV, near-IR, etc, and it would have been less geeky. We'll see if I get any 'How could you be so geeky?' comments ;-) Nice to have a wildlife biologist onboard!
As a layperson, sometimes I need to read the wavelengthy nano-speak parts a couple of times, but it all makes perfect sense because you have the uncommon skill of being able to convey robust scientific principles in ways that read like an unfolding mystery tale. This is great writing Carolyn, and more importantly - cool af.
Thank you, Aidan! I worried about it being too nerdy. I'm glad you found it thrilling anyway. Stay tuned for more.
Você é uma mulher fantástica e admiro muito seu trabalho !
Se precisar de um rim, medula, etc. só chamar.
Ha! I've never had an offer like that. Thanks, I'll keep that in mind!
Você é um ser humano especial. Além da importância de seu trabalho e do entusiasmo contagiante , quando por exemplo, noticiou as descobertas em Titan, seu "presta atenção" (termo usado no Brasil, significa "heads up") em Elon Nozzle Musk foi lindo !
Eu trabalho em um pequeno observatório (Jean Nicolini) do município de Campinas - SP e ficaríamos muito gratos se Ganhássemos uma foto autografada !
Beijos cósmicos e titânicos.
Obrigado!
I love it all ....Nerdy is good I have no problem with it .....If I don't understand a word or phrase I look it up ...Broadening my knowledge base ......Keep up the good work ....A quote from Shogun ..." Isn't man but a blossom taken by the wind, and only the mountains and the sea and the stars and this Land of the Gods real and everlasting?" You are taking us on that journey as your guests
Who doesn't love a good Shogun quote? Was this from the first Shogun or the new one?
Cool! I like it! Stay tuned for more.
Not in the least, although it does help ,by doing amateur photography and low budget amateur astronomy, content is just about right for ,geeks and non geeks too!! Take much care out there!! Mr.t
Ok! Very useful response. Thanks.
Love your story on Cassini ! ...It's as good as the series Shogun I have been watching !
Shogun?!? In what way?
Exciting to watch .....not to compare them...... but the excitement of watching and enjoying it ...
Ah, I see. And this last entry wasn't too nerdy for you? I'm trying to gauge the appetite of my audience.
I think interested people don’t mind getting in a little over their heads… And spending a bit more time trying to understand, only increases the appreciation for the effort involved
Wonderful! That's what I is the writer hope for, but I do sometimes wonder if I'm overwhelming people. Thanks for your comment. It's helpful.
Caroline, greatly enthused by your recaps of Wonderfull Cassini!! Makes very interesting reading ,good content building up bit by bit, drawing you into the content, and experiencing the excitement of discovery, full of awe, and beutifull to read and see for ourselves ,what really went on!! Thrilled keep it up , mrt
Thank you!! So you didn't find today's post to geeky?
Since you asked.....the technical jargon of the camera, the wavelengths of the optics probably zoomed over most folk's heads....what amazes me, still, is the fact that even never having been there, the robot's instruments were designed perfectly for the mission. You would know, Carolyn.....did any of the instruments on the spacecraft fail during the mission?
Oh, and don't forget, we'd been there with Voyager. So, we didn't go to Saturn completely ignorant of what we'd find there.
Well, the visible imager on the VIMS instrument -- Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer -- failed I believe. If not fully, than in some way. I don't think it was used much. And there was a failure in the communication system on the Huygens Probe that looked like it was going to be impossible to communicate with the Orbiter. I hope I'm remembering this correctly. Obviously, for my book, I'll get the story right. But the engineers at JPL figured out a way to accommodate the failed mode. In the end, it worked enough to re-write the textbooks.
Every time I see an image of Saturn it makes me feel that it is calling to us asking us when we are going to see it with our own eyes. Hopefully I will live to see the first crewed mission and if we’re really lucky we will see for real what filmmaker Erik Wernquist imagined in his new short film One Revolution Per Minute; got me really fired up! 🪐
https://youtu.be/iiPmgW21rwY?si=uIjfl1GCZni6hgYa
Greetings Koba! I doubt I'll live long enough to see the first manned mission to the gas giants of our solar system....but not to worry! I am in the process of writing a book (fiction, of course) about the first manned mission to explore the dark seas of Europa and the wonders that await there under the ice.
Right now as far as we know, the ocean under Europa is inaccessible. How about siting your story on Enceladus ... An object where we know with great certainty it's ocean is very accessible.
its, not it's.