AGRODOME in the MORNING by MagikUnicorn
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Another version from yesterday...
--- SPACE NEWS ---
Cassini Detects Hint of Fresh Air at Dione
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has “sniffed” molecular oxygen ions around Saturn’s icy moon Dione for the first time, confirming the presence of a very tenuous atmosphere. The oxygen ions are quite sparse – one for every 0.67 cubic inches of space (one for every 11 cubic centimeters of space) or about 2,550 per cubic foot (90,000 per cubic meter) – show that Dione has an extremely thin neutral atmosphere.
At the Dione surface, this atmosphere would only be as dense as Earth’s atmosphere 300 miles (480 kilometers) above the surface. The detection of this faint atmosphere, known as an exosphere, is described in a recent issue of the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
“We now know that Dione, in addition to Saturn’s rings and the moon Rhea, is a source of oxygen molecules,” said Robert Tokar, a Cassini team member based at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, N.M., and the lead author of the paper. “This shows that molecular oxygen is actually common in the Saturn system and reinforces that it can come from a process that doesn’t involve life.”
Dione’s oxygen appears to derive from either solar photons or energetic particles from space bombarding the moon’s water ice surface and liberating oxygen molecules, Tokar said. But scientists will be looking for other processes, including geological ones, that could also explain the oxygen.
“Scientists weren’t even sure Dione would be big enough to hang on to an exosphere, but this new research shows that Dione is even more interesting than we previously thought,” said Amanda Hendrix, Cassini deputy project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., who was not directly involved in the study. “Scientists are now digging through Cassini data on Dione to look at this moon in more detail.”
Several solid solar system bodies – including Earth, Venus, Mars and Saturn’s largest moon Titan – have atmospheres. But they tend to be typically much denser than what has been found around Dione. However, Cassini scientists did detect a thin exosphere around Saturn’s moon Rhea in 2010, very similar to Dione. The density of oxygen at the surfaces of Dione and Rhea is around 5 trillion times less dense than that at Earth’s surface.
Tokar said scientists suspected molecular oxygen would exist at Dione because NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope detected ozone. But they didn’t know for sure until Cassini was able to measure ionized molecular oxygen on its second flyby of Dione on April 7, 2010 with the Cassini plasma spectrometer. On that flyby, the spacecraft flew within about 313 miles (503 kilometers) of the moon’s surface.
Cassini scientists are also analyzing data from Cassini’s ion and neutral mass spectrometer from a very close flyby on Dec. 12, 2011. The ion and neutral mass spectrometer made the detection of Rhea’s thin atmosphere, so scientists will be able to compare Cassini data from the two moons and see if there are other molecules in Dione’s exosphere.
Thanks
Magik
Comments (44)
Faemike55
Very cool image and great news
Savage_dragon
These are so cool. ")
AidanaWillowRaven
I like yesterday's better, but this is still cool. :D If I had not seen the other, I'd find this awesome.
cricke49
excellent work magic, love the news! carry on my friend!:)*5
rocdan
excellent work wonderful render
Jay-el-Jay
Terrific work on this Bryce construction project.
bebopdlx
Cool model, excellent info!!!
brycek
Absolutely fantastic!!
mgtcs
WOW....this is absolutely fantastic my friend, gorgeous creation and information!
bazza
Fantastic image and render in the morning light MU, excellent!!
Radar_rad-dude
Very spectacular scifi scene and excellent information! Most interesting and very much appreciated for sharing with us! Thank you, Magik!
magnus073
Magik, c'est une image fantastique. les dômes sont spectaculaires, et ont beaucoup de détail. Merci pour les nouvelles excitant à propos de la NASA
peedy
Fantastic lighting in this one, MU! Corrie
clbsmiley
Very Cool!! I like this version too. :)
renecyberdoc
i prefer this one its more bright .
DennisReed
Awesome day after render, and cool info!
mininessie
wow....gorgeous!!!
jayfar
I like this one better Magik.
Feliciti
excellent details to see !!
soffy
Super work,MU:)*****
dochtersions
So special, Magik. Wonderful mushrooms;-)
nitegrafix
WOW!! Great skills!! Amazing!!..... O_O Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING looks so realistic....
adrie
Fantastic work on this cool looking image MU....LOVE IT.
jendellas
Like this one, excellent!!
UteBigSmile
Oulala, ça me plait vraiment jusqu'au plus petit detail! I'info est super, Dione (en plus un nom agréable) cette planète pourra être/devenir la nouvelle terre dans d'une des prophésies de la Bible!?!
Flint_Hawk
This is a marvelous scene & such fascinating news! :-)
Fidelity2
Wow. Gee. You are the greatest. I thank you for this one. 5+!
bobrgallegos
Wonderful light and shadows!!! Great narrative!!
MarciaGomes
WOOOOW!!ESTA IMAGEM É ABSOLUTAMENTE EXCEPCIONAL MEU AMIGO,DÁ PARA VER PERFEITAMENTE TODOS OS DETALHES QUE SÃO EXTRAORDINÁRIOS,ASSIM COMO A ILUMINAÇÃO.++++++++5 OBRIGADO PELA INFORMAÇÃO É FANTÁSTICA.
RodS
This is a fantastic render, Real! The details really come out in the morning light! Fascinating information, too. I think we are going to find various forms of life are much more preavalent throughout the universe than we expected - assuming we don't exterminate ourselves first...