Posted on 08/28/2014 6:55:04 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Explanation: What would it look like to fly past Triton, the largest moon of planet Neptune? Only one spacecraft has ever done this -- and now, for the first time, images of this dramatic encounter have been gathered into a movie. On 1989 August 25, the Voyager 2 spacecraft shot through the Neptune system with cameras blazing. Triton is slightly smaller than Earth's Moon but has ice volcanoes and a surface rich in frozen nitrogen. The first sequence in the video shows Voyager's approach to Triton, which, despite its unusual green tint, appears in approximately true color. The mysterious terrain seen under the spacecraft soon changed from light to dark, with the terminator of night soon crossing underneath. After closest approach, Voyager pivoted to see the departing moon, now visible as a diminishing crescent. Next July, assuming all goes well, the robotic New Horizons spacecraft will make a similar flight past Pluto, an orb of similar size to Triton.
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
[Credit: Voyager 2, JPL, NASA; ]Digital composition: Paul Schenk (LPI, USRA)
Very nice. Quite different than any other moon in the solar system. Thanks,sunkenciv
What is an ice volcano?
Hillary.
Now THAT was cool. We got our money’s worth from the Voyagers.
We don’t make them like we used to.
Awesome. Thanks.
Hillary. -fieldmarshaldj
OMG I'm picturing her with icebergs flying out of her butt!
Nice job!
Just wow.
What is an ice volcano?
You know, like Bardabardabing in Iceland...
Thanks… To outline the multi-step process, in case anyone might be interested:
– Captured the video from the source site as an 720p MP4 (also for the Library)
– Ran this through Windows Movie Maker; changed the video speed to 5X to get the total time under 10 secs
– Exported the result as the default WMV format
– Uploaded this to a public Automated GIF site (lots out there); saved the conversion locally with appropriate dimensions & file size
– Uploaded this file to a linkable site (e.g. Photobucket) for posting
Many other ways to skin the cat, I’m sure ;-)
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