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voyager ii imagery

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Voyager II Imagery - Neptune: This image of clouds in Neptune's atmosphere is the first that tests the accuracy of the weather forecast that was made eight days earlier to select targets for the Voyager narrow-angle camera. Three of the four targeted features are visible in this photograph; all three are close to their predicted locations. The Great Dark Spot with its bright white companion is slightly to the left of center. The small bright Scooter is below and to the left, and the second dark spot with its bright core is below the Scooter. Strong eastward winds -- up to 400 mph -- cause the second dark spot to overtake and pass the larger one every five days. The spacecraft was 6.1 million kilometers (3.8 million miles) from the planet at the time of camera shuttering, and the images use the orange, green and clear filters of the camera. The Voyager Mission is conducted by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications. (JPL ref P-34632 Voyager 2 N-32C) ARC-1989-AC89-7010

Voyager II Imagery - Neptune: This image of clouds in Neptune's atmosp...

Voyager II Imagery - Neptune: This image of clouds in Neptune's atmosphere is the first that tests the accuracy of the weather forecast that was made eight days earlier to select targets for the Voyager narrow-... More

Voyager II Imagery; Neptune. This bulls-eye view of Neptune's small dark spot (D2) was obtained by Voyager 2's narrow-angle camera , when Neptune was within 1.1 million km (680,000 miles) of the planet. The smallest structures that can be seen are 20 km (12 miles) across. This unplanned photograph was obtained when the infrared spectrograph was mapping the the highest-resolution view of the feature taken during the flyby. Banding surrounding the feature indicates unseen strong winds, while structues within the bright spot suggest both active upwelling of clouds and rotation about the center. A rotation rate has not yet been measured, but the v-shaped structure near the right edge of the bright area indicates that the spot rotates clockwise. Unlike the Great Red Spot on Jupiter, which rotates counterclockwise, if the D2 spot on Neptune rotates clockwise, the material will be descending in the dark oval region. The fact that infrared data will yield temperature information about the region above the clouds makes this observation especially valuable. The Voyager Mission is conducted by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science and Applicaitons. (JPL ref: P-34749 Voyager N-71) taken during the flyby. Banding surrounding the feature indicates unseen strong winds, while structures within the bright spot suggest both active upwelling of clouds and rotation about the center. A rotation rate has not yest been measured, but the Vv-sphped ARC-1989-A89-7058

Voyager II Imagery; Neptune. This bulls-eye view of Neptune's small da...

Voyager II Imagery; Neptune. This bulls-eye view of Neptune's small dark spot (D2) was obtained by Voyager 2's narrow-angle camera , when Neptune was within 1.1 million km (680,000 miles) of the planet. The sma... More

Voyager II Imagery, Neptune: This is one of the most detailed views of the surface of Triton taken by Voyager 2 on its flyby of the large satellite of Neptune early in the morning of August 25, 1989. The picture was stored on the tape recorder and relayed to Earth later. Taken from a distanT ce of only 40,000 km (25, 000 miles), the frame is about 220 kilometers (140 miles) across and shows details as small as 750 meters (0.5 miles). Most of the area is covered by a peculiar landscape of roughly circular depressions separated by rugged ridges. This type of terrain, which covers large tracts of Triton's northern hemisphere, is unlike anything seen elsewhere in the solar system. The depressions are probably not impact craters: They are too similar in size and too regularly spaced. Their origin is still unknown, but may involve local melting and collapse of the icy surface. A conspicuous set of grooves and ridges cuts across the landscape, indicating fracturing and deformation of Triton's surface. The rarity of impact craters suggests a young surface by solar-system standards, probably less than a few billion years old. The Voyager Mission is conducted by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications. (JPL ref: P-34722 Voyager N-60 ) ARC-1989-AC89-7055

Voyager II Imagery, Neptune: This is one of the most detailed views of...

Voyager II Imagery, Neptune: This is one of the most detailed views of the surface of Triton taken by Voyager 2 on its flyby of the large satellite of Neptune early in the morning of August 25, 1989. The pictur... More