Archive for April, 2009
Gallery of exceptional Cassini images
Boston.com’s Big Picture has a really cool set of Cassini images.
And I say this as someone who stares at a lot of Cassini images.
Okay, I’ll admit, compared to these Cassini ISS (Imaging Sub-System) images from the WAC and NAC (that’s Wide- and Narrow- Angle Camera), the VIMS images I work with are like a kindergardener’s drawings: blurry, difficult to interpret, and made with every single Crayola in the box.
Nonetheless, I end up looking at lots of ISS images for fun and lecture fodder, and this collection is exceptional: each and every one of these is mindblowing in one or more ways.
Here’s a sample image of the F ring, which is my personal scientific obsession. It is distorted by interactions with the moon Prometheus (the Solar System’s most badly behaved “shepherd moon.”) Be sure to click through to the bigger version. So, so, very pretty—and it’s not even the most excellent one there. (I’d love to hear in comments which images you thought were neatest!)
The Ballad of Catan
Hear the Ballad of Catan, by The Singing Nerd, and you can sing along too, you nerds!
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