Astronomy Picture of the Day 08-23-04

NASA ^ | 08-23-04 | Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell

[petuniasevan]

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2004 August 23

Looking Out Over Mars
Credit: Mars Exploration Rover Mission, JPL, NASA

Explanation: What would it be like to climb a hill and look out over Mars? That opportunity was afforded the Spirit rover earlier this month as it rolled to a high perch in the Columbia Hills. Peering out, the rolling robot spied the interior plains and distant rim of Gusev Crater, beyond an outcrop of rocks called Longhorn. Spirit continues to find evidence that many rock shapes have been altered by ancient water. Both Spirit and her sister robot Opportunity have completed their primary three-month mission but remain in good enough condition to continue to explore Mars.

[petuniasevan]

Streaking away from Dione
CASSINI PHOTO RELEASE
Posted: August 22, 2004

Saturn's crescent moon Dione hangs before the Cassini spacecraft in this magnified image. The icy moon shows a hint of the bright, wispy features that mark its surface.

Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
 

The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera at a distance of 6.2 million kilometers (3.9 million miles) from Dione, and at a Sun-Dione-spacecraft, or phase angle, of 96 degrees. The image scale is 37 kilometers (25 miles) per pixel. The image has been magnified by a factor of four to aid visibility.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras, were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.

[petuniasevan]

YES! You too can be added to the APOD PING list! Just ask!

[biblewonk]

I prefer the deepfields.

[Soaring Feather]

Thank You.

[DirtyHarryY2K]

Fascinating! I remember the first time I looked at Mars through a telescope as a kid I wondered what it would look like to see Mars from it's surface. This is the best view I have seen to date.

Keep up the good work.