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Views of Mimas
Mimas is one of Saturn’s inner moons. About 400 kilometers (250 miles) across, it is heavily cratered. Its most distinctive feature is Herschel crater (arrow), an impact crater 140 kilometers (88 miles) wide with a tall central peak.
A. In 2005 the Cassini spacecraft obtained this view during its approach to Mimas.
B. Cassini took this image when it came within 9,500 kilometers (5,900 miles) of Mimas on February 13, 2010.
Images courtesy of NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Space Science Institute
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Dust Devil
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s high-resolution imager HiRISE captured this image of a dust devil (far left) over the Martian northern plains. As on Earth, dust devils form when ground heated by sunlight warms the air above it, causing the air to rise. The hot rising air forms an updraft, which begins to whirl. On Mars, dust devils usually form in late spring or summer, especially at latitudes closer to the poles. This image was taken in early spring of this year and at a latitude of 61 degrees north. No dust devil has ever been seen this far from the equator so early in the year.
Image courtesy of NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory-Caltech/University of Arizona
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Hubble Maps Pluto-
These images of Pluto were created using photographs taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope from 2002 to 2003. The mottled colors on the dwarf planet’s surface reflect seasonal changes in color and brightness as surface ices sublimate (convert from a solid to a gas) at the sunlit pole and then refreeze at the other. The distant Sun’s ultraviolet radiation may have also broken up methane present on the surface, creating a dark and red carbon-rich residue. The most detailed view to date, these images will help scientists select areas for the New Horizons spacecraft to investigate when it flies by Pluto in 2015.
Images courtesy of NASA, European Space Agency, and M. Buie
(Southwest Research Institute)
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