:Look, It’s a Sublimation Formation!
Mission: MESSENGER. Instrument: Mercury Dual Imaging System – Narrow Angle Camera. Located in the crater Eminescu, this high-resolution image shows part of the mountainous peak ring, as well as an example of the extensive formation of hollows located within the crater. Hollows maintain an air of mystery in the realm of planetary science. Though the exact formation mechanism is unknown, most scientists agree sublimation of volatiles holds the answer. This image highlights the prevalence of these hollows on and around the peak ring, as well as captures the beauty of such enigmatic formations. This image was acquired as a high-resolution targeted observation. Targeted observations are images of a small area on Mercury’s surface at resolutions much higher than the 200-meter/pixel morphology base map. It is not possible to cover Mercury’s entire surface at this high resolution, but typically several areas of high scientific interest are imaged in this mode each week. Welcome to the regional planetary image facility of OrsayYou have reached the portal to our public image database of solar system planets, developed in collaboration with NASA missions and ESA. In these pages we bring you news about the Photothèque website and a selection of space mission news highlights. The planetary Photothèque is a facility proposed by the geomorphology and subsurface-atmosphere interaction team at the IDES Orsay lab. 
Click on a planet to get more information
News itemsThe Mars spatial exploration at BUWednesday 16 November 2011 The Photothèque Planétaire d’Orsay and the Centre de Vulgarisation de la Connaissance of Orsay Faculty of Sciences present an exhibition about Mars exploration history.IDES and IAS labs, currently involved in Mars space missions, provide their scientific oversight, Visitors could admire ancient and new pictures of the Red Planet and its satellite Phobos, still mysterious, and they could play scientists in search of the best site for MSL rover landing. The exhibition will begin Thursday, November 17, 2011 to the Bibliothèque Universitaire of the Faculty of Sciences. It will close on Thursday, December 15. Browse Magellan mosaics with our Web GIS interfaceThursday 9 June 2011 Visit the Venus surface browsing radar images and topographic data obtained by the Magellan spacecraft. They are now available via our new Web GIS interface. The planets as Galileo saw themMonday 19 July 2010 1610-2010: four hundred years of astronomical observations using telescopes. How did Galileo see the planets through his telescope? Let’s take advantage of computer image simulations to rediscover the amazement of the first planet observer of modern times! Click here to see the result. Download MOLAutils 1.4!Monday 1 June 2009 MOLAutils is a tool for reading and extracting measurements from MOLA Precision Experiment Data Records (PEDRs).
It is distributed under GNU/GPL license. |
