
Raw unprocessed images from Cassini's first Saturn inter-ring dive - astdb
http://ciclops.org/view_event/251/Rev-271-Raw-Preview
======
elorant
We take a lot of science's achievements for granted, but if you pause and
think about it for a moment it's mind boggling. That thing is 1,5 bn kms away.

~~~
dougmany
A few links later and I found:

>So here's raising a glass to our kind. We have done a remarkable thing ... to
set our craft on a long-distance mission in search of lovely blue oceans like
those of Earth, and have it answer us with such gratifying certitude.

[http://ciclops.org/index/8201/A-Subsurface-Globe-
Encompassin...](http://ciclops.org/index/8201/A-Subsurface-Globe-Encompassing-
Watery-Realm-on-Enceladus)

------
juancampa
From the article: "The image has not been validated or calibrated. A
validated/calibrated image will be archived with the Planetary Data System in
2018".

Anyone knows what calibration/validation means in this case? I hope there are
higher-res versions coming down.

~~~
QuinnyPig
Everyone talks about having more compute power in their wristwatch than the
entire Apollo mission series did.

I figure that NASA simply retasked the Apollo computers to image processing.
Waste not, want not, but the compute time now gets measured with calendars.

~~~
kobeya
You can't just photoshop an image to make it pretty and call that science.
NASA processes the image using calibration data taken from other sensors on
the craft, trying to make as realistic a reconstruction as possible of the
light data entering the camera, in a way that is physically reasonable and
from which one can draw inferences from and not be accused of chasing image
processing ghosts.

~~~
sandworm101
Except that many of the "pretty" images released by nasa to the media are only
that. Scientific value is one type of value, promotional value another. That
far out from the sun the only realistic pictures would be shades of black. Our
eyesight isn't made for such environments. That they need to be photoshopped
so that we can perceive their detail doesn't detract from the facts of those
details. One image for us to understand and appreciate, another from which to
make scientific measurements.

~~~
WD-42
> That far out from the sun the only realistic pictures would be shades of
> black.

You realize you can see Saturn with the naked eye _from earth_ right?

------
nkg
Do anyone care to explain what we are looking at ? #eli5

~~~
astdb
These are photos from Cassini spacecraft's set of 'Grand Finale' manoeuvres
around Saturn - this article has a good summary
[http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-28/cassini-sends-back-
clo...](http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-28/cassini-sends-back-closest-
pictures-of-saturns-atmosphere/8478390)

The images from the initial link are the newest raw images taken during the
flyby which happened about two days before. Possibly the closest images ever
taken of Saturn.

Google did a great doodle too [https://www.google.com/doodles/cassini-
spacecraft-dives-betw...](https://www.google.com/doodles/cassini-spacecraft-
dives-between-saturn-and-its-rings)

