What the heck is that?

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/imag...eiImageID=60004

Whatever it is, it's a jiggled-up, overexposed version of this. Not quite as weird, but the instrument pointing logs would be of great utility here.

(attaches twilight zone theme tweedle to the picture)

There's lots of them, and some have different speckles with different filters

Is it an internal calibration? Or Calibration using the Sun or something like that?

Doug

If I'm not mistaken, that may be an image of the calibration lamp. WAC has a calibration lamp (IIRC, WAC design was inherited from the Voyagers) while NAC has no such thing.
That bright middle band does somewhat resemble a tungsten wire in a lamp, defocussed of course.

You guys are a bottomless pit of knowledge, I'm impressed

Here's an exploded view of the wide angle camera, taken from 2004_PorcoWest.pdf:
Click to view attachment
Note the calibration lamp on the left, in the front of the optics.

A slightly enhanced version of this picture:

Excellent explaination, ugordan... but I prefere Cugel version!
(remember that in the original 2001 book, monolith was near Saturn!).

Hehe, THAT is a good one!

This is the science plan entry:

2006JAN05 21:57 UTC - 2006JAN06 01:57 UTC
ISS_020IC_CALLAMP001_PRIME

ISS WAC CAL LAMP
ISS WAC Cal Lamp exposures

So, no space for Science Fiction here... but, hey, wait a moment! Deaths Star is pointing toward Titan!!! Hope rebellion will destroy it soon!
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/imag...7/N00047873.jpg

The Monolith in the novel wasn't just near Saturn, it was on Iapetus in a large white "crater" and the Monolith ETI had something to do with making the moon so bright on one side and so dark on the other - a kind of semaphore signal to humanity.

See here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iapetus_(moon...etus_in_fiction

In fact none other than Donald Goldsmith and Tobias Owen speculated in 1980 that Iapetus' condition might be artificial:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iapetus_(moon...s_is_artificial

Even Iapetus' discoverer, the real Cassini, noted its dark and light halves in 1671:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iapetus_(moon...tone_coloration

I never get tired of 2001 comedy.

Nah, THIS is the enhanced version:

Back to the calib. image, I do not like the looks of it. Recall the Stardust lamp calib images of 2001....

here, the prelaunch image clearly showing helical structure of the W filament.


and then a post-launch image after contamination on the lens accumulated


and finaly after baking of the lens is nearly done, the wigglyness is again visible



I don't have a prelaunch image to compare it to but the Cassini image looks TOO blurry. Even if the filament is a straight wire this is too blurry I think.



If you're REALLY good you can estimate the particle size distribution of the contamination droplets on the surface... see here (note, no I am not that good )

Star Trek : TNG ?

^Yeah sad Creature/Ship



When I first saw it I though of a Vegetable (forgot the name of it)

Gomtuu, which Starfleet code-named Tin Man.

http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Gomtuu

http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Tin_Man

At least it wasn't a typical ST alien, by far.