Here was the virtual star party that we held last night on Google+. We’ve actually been holding 1-2 of these star parties every week as we figure out the best way to organize and coordinate all the telescopes streaming into the Hangout. I don’t normally post them all on Universe Today, but last night was particularly special, with amazing views of the Rosette Nebula approximately one hour into the broadcast. A big thanks to Gary Gonella for sharing his telescope view with us.
If you’re interested in watching future livestreamed telescope virtual star parties, make sure you circle me on Google+.
What do things sound like out in the cosmos? Of course, sound waves can’t travel through the vacuum of space; however, electromagnetic waves can. These electromagnetic waves can be recorded by devices called spectrographs on many of the world’s most powerful telescopes. Astronomer Paul Francis from the Australian National University has used some of these recordings and converted them into sound by reducing their frequency 1.75 trillion times to make them audible, as the original frequencies are too high to be heard by the human ear.
“This allows us to listen to many parts of the universe for the first time,” Francis wrote on his website. “We can hear the song of a comet, the chimes of stars being born or dying, the choir of a quasar eating the heart of a galaxy, and much more.” Continue reading “What Does a Nebula Sound Like?”
Giordano Bruno crater on the eastern far side limb of the Moon (35.9? N, 102.8? E) is being revealed in great detail by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera.
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The Moon is covered with craters of various shapes and sizes, and in various states of preservation. Scientists have studied these spectacular features for over five decades, yet there are still many things about craters that we just don’t understand. The study of craters is important because we use them to determine the ages of planetary surfaces. Now, very high resolution imagery from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) is allowing us to see lunar craters as never before. Under such scrutiny, one very fresh crater is revealing a host of secrets about the crater-forming process and revealing that it’s not as young as some people may have originally thought.
The crater in question is Giordano Bruno, a 22 km diameter crater located on the far side of the Moon, just beyond the eastern limb. Like all craters on the Moon, this one was named after a famous scientist, in this case, a sixteenth century Italian philosopher who was burned at the stake in 1600 for proposing the existence of “countless Earths.” Because of its position on the far side, Giordano Bruno crater was not seen by humans until it was photographed by the Soviet Luna-3 mission in 1959. But then, this crater was immediately recognized as one of significance, because of its very bright and extensive ray system.
The spectacular rays and the brightness of Giordano Bruno crater are evident in this Clementine data mosaic of the eastern limb of the Moon. Giordano Bruno is the bright spot in the upper centre of this image and some of its rays can be seen extending a quarter of the way around the lunar globe. Image credit: NASA/JPL/USGS
Along with its bright rays, the crisp rim of the crater, it’s very steep slopes, and a lack of observed superposed craters all argued for a very young age for this intriguing crater. Some researchers even suggested that the formation of this crater was observed by medieval monks in 1178, and recorded as a lunar transient event. Other workers think the age should be closer to 1 million years old. This is still very young by the standards of similar-sized lunar craters, but not within written history.
Over the past 2 years, the acquisition of LROC data has allowed Giordano Bruno crater to be studied in much greater detail than ever before. Images taken by the LROC Narrow Angle Cameras (NAC’s) have resolutions of about half a meter per pixel. This means that something the size of a chair would take up one pixel, and your kitchen table would be roughly resolvable as a 2 x 3 pixel rectangle. With resolutions like that, interesting and unexpected features are being revealed.
One of the most spectacular features is a swirl of impact melt on the western edge of the crater floor. This whirlpool-like structure shows that the melt here underwent chaotic mixing while it was liquid. You can also see that parts of the melt are actually mixtures of real melt and rock fragments that have been incorporated during movement of the melt.
Like cream in coffee, a swirl captures the incomplete mixing that occurred when a viscous combination of impact melt and rock fragments flowed off the crater walls into some less rocky impact melt, which had pooled at the western edge of the crater. Image credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
Recently published work by Dr. Yuriy Shkuratov (from the Astronomical Institute of Kharkov in Ukraine) and his colleagues used a new technique to study this swirl. Multiple images taken under different conditions were combined to provide roughness calculations for the area. Their research shows that there is a depression in the centre of this structure and that higher segments of the whirlpool swirl exhibit greater roughness than the surrounding melt. They interpret this to mean that the cooling impact melt pool was disturbed by melt flows coming off the crater walls. These incoming flows were more viscous because they had incorporated rock fragments and so did not mix as readily with the other melt material.
One of the other features studied by Dr. Shkuratov and his team is a large slump of wall material near the northern rim of Giordano Bruno. Such slumps are common in larger craters and are believed to form during the late stages of crater formation. This means that the slump block should be the same age as the crater. However, Dr. Shkuratov and colleagues have found that, while there are no craters on the slumped material, a number of small craters are located on the inner wall near this large landslide. They interpret this to mean that the slump is a more recent event. This is significant, because up until now, such big changes were not thought to occur so long after crater formation.
A segment of the crater wall detaches and slumps downward. But when? Image credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
The most intriguing result of Dr. Shkuratov’s study is the indication of a not-so-young age for Giordano Bruno. A number of very bright landslides, much smaller than the one on the north wall, are observed around the crater. Similarly, small bright craters are found superposed on many parts of the crater walls. These landslides and craters are much brighter than the surrounding materials. On the Moon, brighter means younger, since materials tend to darken as they age, due to a process called “space weathering.” If these craters and landslides are indeed young, this means that the surrounding darker material of Giordano Bruno crater must be older. Data from Japan’s Kaguya mission confirms that these variations in brightness are not related to compositional variations, and so must be age-related. Based on this and other evidence, Dr. Shkuratov’s team conclude that Giordano Bruno crater must be at least one million years old.
So, whatever the medieval monks saw when they recorded the occurrence of a lunar transient event in 1178, it was not the impact that formed Giordano Bruno crater.
Source: The lunar crater Giordano Bruno as seen with optical roughness imagery. Shkuratov et al., Icarus 218, 2012, 525-533, doi:10.1016/j.icarus/2011.12.023.
Above are the the discovery images for one of Jupiter's newest moons S/2011 J2. This object is faint so it doesn't have much visual information, but the moon was discovered by the optical telescope Magellan telescope on Sept. 27, 2011. You can see the motion of the satellite over 40 minutes between the two exposures while the background stars and galaxies do not move. Jupiter is about 0.5 degrees away from the bottom of these images. Images courtesy of Scott Sheppard
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Advances in technology have lead to the discovery of new planets outside of our Solar System, and now even new moons in our own backyard.
Last September, two satellites – the smallest ever discovered – were found orbiting Jupiter.
That brings the number of Jovian moons to a whopping 66. The moons – each about 1 km in size – are very distant from Jupiter. It takes the tiny satellites 580 and 726 days to orbit the gas giant.
The discovery could lead us one step closer to understanding the formation and evolution of our solar system. At least that’s the hope of Scott Sheppard, who works at the the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution of Science in Washington, D.C. It was Sheppard who, with the help of the massive Magellan telescope at Las Campanas, Chile, initially observed the moons.
“The new satellites are part of the outer retrograde swarm of objects around Jupiter. It is likely there are about 100 satellites of this size around Jupiter,” Sheppard said, explaining that Magellan has made it easier to detect objects further away from Earth. “Up until the last decade, the technology wasn’t there to discover these things because they are very small and very faint.”
The two tiny, irregular moons are called S/2011 J1 and S/2011 J2. Thankfully, those names aren’t expected to stick. Once officially confirmed (Sheppard expects it to happen this year), he will have the opportunity to name each. But, Sheppard can’t pick just any moniker. The names, according to the International Astronomical Union, must be related to Jupiter or Zeus, the Roman and Greek mythological figures who served as king of the gods.
Credit: NASA/ESA/E. Karkoschka (U. Arizona)
Maybe that’s why Sheppard hasn’t yet thought of any names for the soon-to-be members of the Jovian moon list. Are there any names that haven’t already been chosen? Europa, Thebe, Io, Callisto, Sinope, Ganymede …
Naming requirements will definitely need to change because, as Sheppard explains, there are a lot more moons to discover around some of our other gas – and ice – giants.
“There are a similar amount of objects orbiting Saturn and Neptune, which are more distant from the Sun,” Sheppard said, citing a survey of the sky conducted by the Carnegie Institution of Washington in the early 2000s. “If larger telescopes are built in the future, we’ll be able to discover more of these objects and find out what the objects are like,” Sheppard said.
And finding more of these smaller, distant, irregular satellites is a key to understanding our past.
Here’s why: Irregular satellites are believed to have been captured by their respective planets because the moons typically orbit in the opposite direction of the planet’s rotation, and, they also have eccentric and highly inclined orbits.
Those types of moons differ from regular satellites, which are believed to have formed from the same materials that comprise the planet. That’s because the moons tend to have nearly circular orbits, and, they orbit their respective planets in the same direction that the planet rotates.
A planet can temporarily capture an object, i.e. Shoemaker-Levy 9, but in the present time, “a planet has no known efficient mechanism to permanently capture satellites. Thus, outer satellite capture must have occurred near the time of planet formation when the Solar System was not as organized as it is now,” Sheppard said.
“The orbital history of a satellite can be very complex … but understanding where a satellite came from can tell us about the formation and evolution of our Solar System.”
Click here to learn more about the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Terrestrial Magnetism. For more information about Jovian moons, go to Scott Sheppard’s Jupiter Satellite Page.
1st Color image of Spirit lander and Bonneville Crater from Mars orbit. Near the lower left corner of this view is the three-petal lander platform that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit drove off in January 2004. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
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The Lander platform for NASA’s Spirit rover has been photographed in stunning high resolution color for the first time from Mars orbit – just over 8 years after the now legendary robot survived the scorching atmospheric heat of the 6 minute plunge through the Martian atmosphere and bounced to a stop inside Gusev Crater on January 3, 2004.
Spirit’s three petaled landing pad was finally imaged in color by NASA’s powerful Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft just days ago on January 29, 2012 at 3:04 p.m. local Mars time.
The MRO spacecraft was soaring overhead and captured the image of Spirit’s lander with the high resolution HiRISE camera from a distance of some 262 kilometers, (162 miles).
“HiRISE has never before imaged the actual lander for the Spirit rover in color, [located] on the west side of Bonneville Crater,” writes Alfred McEwen, HiRISE Principal Investigator at the University of Arizona.
1st Color image of Spirit Lander and Bonneville Crater from Mars orbit
Spirit landing pad at lower left; Bonneville Crater rim at top right.
Credit: NASA/JPL/UA/HiRISE
While protectively cocooned inside the airbag cushioned lander, Spirit bounced about two dozen times before rolling to rest on the Martian plains about ¼ mile away from Bonneville Crater. Then her landing petals unfurled, the airbags were partially retracted and Spirit eventually drove off the landing pad.
“The lander is still bright, but with a reddish color, probably due to a [Martian] dust cover.”
Spirit rover images her Lander Platform after Egress
- Now imaged for the 1st time from Mars orbit by NASA’s MRO spacecraft. Lander had 3-petals and airbags. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell
Spirit initially drove to Bonneville Crater and circumnavigated part way around the rim before speeding off towards the Columbia Hills, about 2 miles to the East. She eventually scaled the summit of Husband Hill and drove down the opposite side to the Home Plate” volcanic feature where she rests today – see travse map below.
“A bright spot from a remnant of the heat shield is still visible on the north rim of Bonneville Crater. The backshell and parachute are still bright, but were not captured in the narrow color swath.”
“The rover itself can still be seen near “Home Plate” in the Columbia Hills, but there is no obvious sign of rover tracks–erased by the wind,” McEwen notes.
Here is a photo taken by Spirit looking back to the lander – now imaged in color from orbit for the first time – for a comparative view, before she drove off forever.
Spirit endured for more than six years of bonus time exploration beyond her planned 90 day mission. And Opportunity is still roving Mars today !
Spirit Rover traverse map from Gusev Crater landing site near Bonneville Crater to Columbia Hills to Home Plate: 2004 to 2011. Credit: NASA/JPL/UA/HiRISE
Curiosity – NASA’s newest, biggest ever and maybe last Mars rover – is speeding through interplanetary space for an August 2012 landing inside Gale Crater.
Read my 8th Year Anniversary articles about Spirit and Opportunity on Mars – here and here
Orbital Technologies Corporation developed vortex combustion technology representing a new approach to rocket engine design. Orbital’s NASA work led to advancements in fire suppression systems. Image credit: NASA/HMA Fire.
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Contrary to popular belief, Tang, Velcro and Teflon (along with the zero-gravity “space” pen) aren’t derived from NASA technology. NASA has, however, developed numerous technologies over the years, which are featured in annual “Spinoff” reports. Yes, “memory” foam mattresses are in fact one such product developed from NASA technologies.
NASA’s latest Spinoff edition features over forty of NASA’s most innovative technologies. The origins of each technology within NASA missions are provided, as well as their “spinoff” to the public as commercial products and/or technologies beneficial to society.
What new technologies have made their way this year from NASA labs and into our homes?
Generally, NASA spinoff technologies have proven useful in health and medicine, transportation, public safety, and consumer goods. Additional benefits from NASA spinoff technology can be found in the environment, information technology, and industrial productivity sectors. Experience has shown that these NASA technologies can help stimulate the economy and create new jobs and businesses in the private sector.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden states, “This year’s Spinoff demonstrates once again how through productive and innovative partnerships, NASA’s aerospace research brings real returns to the American people in the form of tangible products, services and new jobs. For 35 years, Spinoff has been the definitive resource for those who want to learn how space exploration benefits life on Earth.”
A few highlights from NASA’s “Spinoff 2011” include:
A new firefighting system, influenced by a NASA-derived rocket design that extinguishes fires more quickly than traditional systems, saving lives and property.
Software employing NASA-invented tools to help commercial airlines fly shorter routes and help save millions of gallons of fuel each year, reducing costs to airlines while benefiting the environment.
A fitness monitoring technology developed with the help of NASA expertise that, when fitted in a strap or shirt, can be used to measure and record vital signs. The technology is now in use to monitor the health of professional athletes and members of the armed services.
An emergency response software tool that can capture, analyze and combine data into maps, charts and other information essential to disaster managers responding to events such as wildfires, floods or Earthquakes. This technology can save millions of dollars in losses from disasters and, more importantly, can help save lives when tragedy strikes.
The 2011 spinoff report also includes a special section celebrating commercial technologies derived from NASA’s Space Shuttle Program. Additionally, NASA lists spinoff technologies based on the construction of the International Space Station and work aboard the station. One other section in the report outlines potential benefits of NASA’s future technology investments.
“NASA’s Office of the Chief Technologist has more than a thousand projects underway that will create new knowledge and capabilities, enabling NASA’s future missions,” NASA Chief Technologist Mason Peck adds. “As these investments mature, we can expect new, exciting spinoff technologies transferring from NASA to the marketplace, providing real returns on our investments in innovation.”
Panoramic photo of Vostok Station showing the layout of the camp. Credit: Todd Sowers LDEO, Columbia University, Palisades, New York (Image from physorg.com)
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Sealed off for millions of years beneath an almost impenetrable layer of ice, Lake Vostok has kept a vast archive of ancient history waiting for just the right moment to reveal itself. Here is a unique closed ecosystem captured in time below four kilometers of ice. Saved from environmental contamination, its water has been isolated from Earth’s atmosphere, and the outside world, long before man existed. Only one burning question remains… Could this pristine pocket of Lake Vostok show signs of early life?
“According to our research, the quantity of oxygen there exceeds that on other parts of our planet by 10 to 20 times. Any life forms that we find are likely to be unique on Earth,” says Sergey Bulat, the Chief Scientist of Russia’s Antarctic Expedition to Russian Reporter magazine.
So why be so excited over finding a few organisms? The reason is clear as the hidden waters. If a life form could exist here, it could also exist on a similar world…. Jupiter’s satellite, Europa.
“The discovery of microorganisms in Lake Vostok may mean that, perhaps, the first meeting with extra-terrestrial life could happen on Europa,” said Dr Vladimir Kotlyakov, Director of the Geography Institute at the Russian Academy of Sciences to Vzglyad newspaper.
Image from earth.columbia.eduHowever, drilling through over 3,700 meters of pure ice hasn’t been an easy process – especially when you’re working in temperatures as low as minus 80 centigrade. The chill thrill drill began in 1970, but it was over 25 years later before Russian specialists discovered the hidden lake beneath the ice sheet. Along with British support, they then began sonar and satellite imagining to reveal one of the world’s largest undisclosed fresh water reservoirs. Now, speculation began in earnest. What might these waters contain? Could it be tiny microbes? Or perhaps even a dangerous organism… There was only one way to find out. Drill and sample.
“Everything but the samples themselves will be carefully decontaminated using radiation. There is no need to worry,” Valeriy Lukin, Head of the Antarctic Expedition told Russian Reporter Magazine. According to researchers at the Russian Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, they surmise the findings as “the only giant super-clean water system on the planet.” and pristine water will be “twice cleaner than double-distilled water.”
Over the last few decades, there had been a lot of discord over anti-freeze drilling methods – each with its pros and cons. From kerosene to Freon – even hot water – the end result needed to be the same. No chance of contamination… either to the samples or the native environment. As it ended up, the Russian method of using the former turned out to be fine when 40 liters of frozen, pure water came to light on February 4. Just a day later, 1,500 liters of kerosene and Freon poured into special containers with no problems and the sample proved to be immaculate. The clear waters are now safely tucked away in sterile containers and are heading back home.
“I can say that everyone at Bellingshausen on the Antarctic Peninsula could probably tell you down to the meter what the daily progress of the drilling was at the Vostok Station in the center of the continent.” says reporter, Sean Thomas. ” After all, the work at Lake Vostok was a Russian project, at a Russian base with Russian scientists, so there is a lot of pride in the work that is being done there.”
Beautiful view of our Milky Way Galaxy. If other alien civilizations are out there, can we find them? Credit: ESO/S. Guisard
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In the famous words of Arthur C. Clarke, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” This phrase is often quoted to express the idea that an alien civilization which may be thousands or millions of years older than us would have technology so far ahead of ours that to us it would appear to be “magic.”
Now, a variation of that thought has come from Canadian science fiction writer Karl Schroeder, who posits that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from nature.” The reasoning is that if a civilization manages to exist that long, it would inevitably “go green” to such an extent that it would no longer leave any detectable waste products behind. Its artificial signatures would blend in with those of the natural universe, making it much more difficult to detect them by simply searching for artificial constructs versus natural ones.
The idea has been proposed as an explanation for why we haven’t found them yet, based on the premise that such advanced societies would have visited and colonized our entire galaxy by now (known as the Fermi Paradox). The question becomes more interesting in light of the fact that astronomers now estimate that there are billions of other planets in our galaxy alone. If a civilization reaches such a “balance with nature” as a natural progression, it may mean that traditional methods of searching for them, like SETI, will ultimately fail. Of course, it is possible, perhaps even likely, that civilizations much older than us would have advanced far beyond radio technology anyway. SETI itself is based on the assumption that some of them may still be using that technology. Another branch of SETI is searching for light pulses such as intentional beacons as opposed to radio signals.
But even other alternate searches, such as SETT (Search for Extraterrestrial Technology), may not pan out either, if this new scenario is correct. SETT looks for things like the spectral signature of nuclear fission waste being dumped into a star, or leaking tritium from alien fusion powerplants.
Another solution to the Fermi Paradox states that advanced civilizations will ultimately destroy themselves. Before they do though, they could have already sent out robotic probes to many places in the galaxy. If those probes were technologically savvy enough to self-replicate, they could have spread themselves widely across the cosmos. If there were any in our solar system, we could conceivably find them. Yet this idea could also come back around to the new hypothesis – if these probes were advanced enough to be truly “green” and not leave any environmental traces, they might be a lot harder to find, blending in with natural objects in the solar system.
It’s an intriguing new take on an old question. It can also be taken as a lesson – if we can learn to survive our own technological advances long enough, we can ultimately become more of a green civilization ourselves, co-existing comfortably with the natural universe around us.
Mysterious X-ray flares caught by Chandra may be asteroids falling into the Milky Way's giant black hole. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/MIT/F. Baganoff et al.; Illustrations: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss
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For the past several years, the Chandra telescope has detected X-ray flares occurring about once a day from the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. These flares last a few hours with brightness ranging from a few times to nearly one hundred times that of the black hole’s regular output. What could be causing these unusual, mysterious flares? Scientists have determined that the black hole could be feasting hungrily on asteroids that come too close and vaporizing them, creating the flares. Basically, the black hole is eating asteroids and then belching out X-ray gas.
If confirmed, this result would mean that there is a huge, bustling cloud around the black hole containing hundreds of trillions of asteroids and comets.
“People have had doubts about whether asteroids could form at all in the harsh environment near a supermassive black hole,” said Kastytis Zubovas of the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom, and lead author of a new paper. “It’s exciting because our study suggests that a huge number of them are needed to produce these flares.”
The scientists say this really isn’t as far-fetched as it may sound, as it mirrors an event that regularly takes place in our Solar System: About every three days a comet is destroyed when it flies into the hot atmosphere of the Sun. Despite the significant differences in the two environments, the destruction rate of comets and asteroids by the Sun and the black hole at the center of our galaxy, called Sagittarius A*, or “Sgr A*” for short, may be similar.
These asteroids and comets have likely been ripped from their parent stars, and to create the flare the asteroids or comets have to be fairly large, at least 19 km (12 miles) wide.
The astronomers propose this scenario: An asteroid undergoes a close encounter with another object, such as a star or planet, and is thrown into an orbit headed towards Sgr A*. If the asteroid passes within about 100 million miles of the black hole, roughly the distance between the Earth and the Sun, it would be torn into pieces by the tidal forces from the black hole. These fragments then would be vaporized by friction as they pass through the hot, thin gas flowing onto Sgr A*, similar to a meteor heating up and glowing as it falls through Earth’s atmosphere. A flare is produced and the remains of the asteroid are swallowed eventually by the black hole.
“An asteroid’s orbit can change if it ventures too close to a star or planet near Sgr A*,” said co-author Sergei Nayakshin, also of the University of Leicester. “If it’s thrown toward the black hole, it’s doomed.”
The team says these results reasonably agree with models estimating of how many asteroids are likely to be in this region, assuming that the number around stars near Earth is similar to the number surrounding stars near the center of the Milky Way.
“As a reality check, we worked out that a few trillion asteroids should have been removed by the black hole over the 10-billion-year lifetime of the galaxy,” said co-author Sera Markoff of the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. “Only a small fraction of the total would have been consumed, so the supply of asteroids would hardly be depleted.”
This scenario would not be limited to asteroids and comets, however. Planets thrown into orbits too close to Sgr A* also could also be disrupted by tidal forces, although planets in the region are less common. And of course, if a planet was consumed, it would create an even larger flare; and this may have occurred about a century ago when Sgr A* brightened by about a factor of a million. Chandra and other X-ray missions have seen evidence of an X-ray “light echo” reflecting off nearby clouds, providing a measure of the brightness and timing of the flare.
“This would be a sudden end to the planet’s life, a much more dramatic fate than the planets in our solar system ever will experience,” Zubovas said.
Very long observations of Sgr A* will be made with Chandra later in 2012 that will give valuable new information about the frequency and brightness of flares and should help to test the model proposed here to explain them. The team said this work could improve understanding about the formation of asteroids and planets in the harsh environment of Sgr A*.
The Phoenix lander still visible at Mars north polar region, nearly 4 Earth years and 2 Mars years after the spacecraft landed on Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
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I spy Phoenix! said the HiRISE camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter! This new image acquired on January 26, 2012 shows that the Phoenix lander and its backshell are still visible from Mars’ orbit. The parachute, seen in earlier images, is probably about 130 meters south of where this picture ends. This is one of a series of images to monitor frost patterns at the Phoenix landing site, said HiRISE Principal Investigator, Alfred McEwen, adding that this new images shows almost the same appearance of the hardware as 1 Mars years ago, in 2010. See larger versions of this image at the HiRISE website.
See below for comparison images from orbit from 2008, shortly after Phoenix landed and 2010, after the mission had ended.
Two images of the Phoenix Mars lander taken from Martian orbit in 2008 and 2010. The 2008 lander image shows two relatively blue spots on either side corresponding to the spacecraft's clean circular solar panels. In the 2010 image scientists see a dark shadow that could be the lander body and eastern solar panel, but no shadow from the western solar panel. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
In these images, also from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, signs of severe ice damage to the lander’s solar panels show up in the 2010 image, with one panel appearing to be completely gone. The Phoenix team says this is consistent with predictions of how Phoenix could be damaged by harsh winter conditions. It was anticipated that the weight of a carbon-dioxide ice buildup could bend or break the solar panels.
