Andrew Yee[_1_]
February 25th 07, 03:10 PM
ESA News
http://www.esa.int
25 February 2007
Beautiful new images from Rosetta's approach to Mars
This series of beautiful images taken by Rosetta's Optical, Spectroscopic,
and Infrared Remote Imaging System (OSIRIS), shows planet Mars in the
pre-close-approach phase.
The ultraviolet image above was taken on 24 February 2007 with the OSIRIS
wide-angle camera through the 'OH' colour filter, intended for the indirect
detection of water when observing comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
Clouds are visible at the North polar cap of Mars and at the morning 'limb'
(border or outermost edge of a celestial body). A high-altitude cloud is
also visible and shown in the inset.
Atmospheric structures can be seen in the next pair of images taken by the
OSIRIS narrow-angle camera. The images have been produced through a special
combination of the green and red colour filters, emphasising the brightness
difference. This image processing step enhances the structures in the
atmosphere, either dust or clouds.
The last OSIRIS image presented in this article is an annotated version of
the two-colour composite of Mars seen by the OSIRIS narrow-angle camera on
24 February at 19:28 CET [1828 UTC] from a distance of about 240 000 km,
with an image resolution of about 5 km per pixel.
This is better, for example, than previous views of the planet obtained by
the Hubble Space Telescope. The greenish regions are clouds above the red
surface of Mars.
Contact for more information
Uwe Keller
OSIRIS Principal Investigator
Max-Planck-Institut f Aeronomie
Email: KELLER @ linmpi.mpg.de
Gerhard Schwehm
ESA Rosetta Mission Manager
Email: gerhard.schwehm @ esa.int
ESA/ESOC Communication Office
Darmstadt, Germany
Tel. +49-6151-90-2696
[NOTE: Images and weblinks supporting this release are available at
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMUDT70LYE_index_1.html ]
http://www.esa.int
25 February 2007
Beautiful new images from Rosetta's approach to Mars
This series of beautiful images taken by Rosetta's Optical, Spectroscopic,
and Infrared Remote Imaging System (OSIRIS), shows planet Mars in the
pre-close-approach phase.
The ultraviolet image above was taken on 24 February 2007 with the OSIRIS
wide-angle camera through the 'OH' colour filter, intended for the indirect
detection of water when observing comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
Clouds are visible at the North polar cap of Mars and at the morning 'limb'
(border or outermost edge of a celestial body). A high-altitude cloud is
also visible and shown in the inset.
Atmospheric structures can be seen in the next pair of images taken by the
OSIRIS narrow-angle camera. The images have been produced through a special
combination of the green and red colour filters, emphasising the brightness
difference. This image processing step enhances the structures in the
atmosphere, either dust or clouds.
The last OSIRIS image presented in this article is an annotated version of
the two-colour composite of Mars seen by the OSIRIS narrow-angle camera on
24 February at 19:28 CET [1828 UTC] from a distance of about 240 000 km,
with an image resolution of about 5 km per pixel.
This is better, for example, than previous views of the planet obtained by
the Hubble Space Telescope. The greenish regions are clouds above the red
surface of Mars.
Contact for more information
Uwe Keller
OSIRIS Principal Investigator
Max-Planck-Institut f Aeronomie
Email: KELLER @ linmpi.mpg.de
Gerhard Schwehm
ESA Rosetta Mission Manager
Email: gerhard.schwehm @ esa.int
ESA/ESOC Communication Office
Darmstadt, Germany
Tel. +49-6151-90-2696
[NOTE: Images and weblinks supporting this release are available at
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMUDT70LYE_index_1.html ]