Beautiful! These seem to be uncompressed Navigation Camera images.

Phil

When you extract the two frames from the gif on the page Hungry linked to, the morning (?), better-lit frame shows clear 8x8 compression blocks - maybe DCT blocks? But the later frame (dark foreground) shows no sign of compression.

(Hungry seems to have partially merged the frames while extracting?)

Click to view attachmentClick to view attachment

The GIF does use a compressed version of the morning frame, but the single image does not appear compressed.

Phil

Forgive me I just grabbed the images from Seger Yu here (where I learned of the JAXA gif release). I see now the "daylight" image I posted was a modified image. Apologies about that.

Another update from JAXA, with some images we haven't seen.
https://www.isas.jaxa.jp/topics/003674.html

I put together a rock map for SLIM. It's only approximate but I think one or two of the largest rocks are just visible in the LRO images. If we get an OHRC image of this location, several of the rocks should be very clearly identifiable.

Phil

Click to view attachment

EDIT: I noticed that I had to rotate the lander 180 degrees on the map - I have replaced the map, so if you downloaded the old one, this is the one you really need.

A February 14 article in APNews, covering the analysis of rocks by SLIM and their implications for the Moon's origin theory, hints at the possibility of a reawakening in late February:



Link: https://apnews.com/article/japan-jaxa-moon-...480f8b6b9d5cd93

Fernando

JAXA has announced they have managed to re-contact SLIM briefly yesterday, although only a brief contact was done due to high temperatures within the lander. They will continue contact in the coming days.
Twitter Link

The navigation camera image from the brief contact with SLIM:

https://twitter.com/SLIM_JAXA/status/1762671786775490715

and the plan for the Multi-Band Camera in the next day or two:

https://twitter.com/SLIM_JAXA/status/1762095220743930163


Phil

The second lunar day is now over. MBC did not operate so no new data were obtained from it in day 2. The navigation camera took the image linked in the last post and another just before sunset.

Phil

https://twitter.com/SLIM_JAXA/status/1763516934333849705

SLIM woke up for a third lunar day. As before, it's rather warm so they aren't doing much. But they did get another camera shot of the same view we're all used to.
https://twitter.com/SLIM_JAXA/status/1773190431758508138

Here is a very nice new image from SLIM on its last day of operation during lunar day 3, with less shadow than seen during the previous late afternoon images.

https://twitter.com/SLIM_JAXA/status/1774608981098729732

Phil

https://twitter.com/SLIM_JAXA/status/1777186920650649997

Two very nice GIF representations of SLIM's NavCam images: chronological and by local time.

Phil

Here is an excellent representation of the SLIM landing site with at one point an estimate of Sora-Q's location.

https://www.isas.jaxa.jp/home/slim/SLIM/ass...LandingSite.mp4

Phil

A fourth lunar Day and an image taken earlier in the day than before.
https://twitter.com/SLIM_JAXA/status/1782956426752848056

Here is a tweet from Chandra ( @this_is_tckb ) about finding SLIM in a new OHRC image (16 March 2024).


https://twitter.com/this_is_tckb/status/1783084056734789992


The image is very interesting. Its resolution is good enough to identify some of the rocks south of the SLIM lander. But there's a puzzle too. Immediately southwest of the lander is a bright spot which looks to be about 70 cm across and not very high (it casts a short shadow in this very early morning image). The LEV-2 image of the lander on the surface doesn't show anything on the ground there, though I think it should be visible. It is far too close to the lander to be the broken rocket nozzle. It could be a mostly buried rock or some object - maybe a bit of a solar panel or thermal blanket - which fell off the lander during its eventful landing. Could it be LEV-1? I don't think so but it might be possible.

Phil

Click to view attachment

Could it be a reflection of sunlight off the lander onto the ground? How real is that shadow? We didn't see it in the LRO image.

The only post-landing LRO image I have seen is taken with very high sun. There are several long shadows from rocks in the image. I don't see why it would not be real.

A light reflection... that's a good suggestion. We've seen that with (e.g) Yutu and Yutu 2. I'm not sure the geometry is right but I will think about it.

Phil

My point about the LRO image is exactly that it had a difference in the solar illumination angle, which might affect the visibility/location/existence of reflections. I definitely agree though that it's not clear the geometry for a reflection makes a lot of sense.

SLIM took a photo looking north from one of it's star trackers.
https://twitter.com/SLIM_JAXA/status/1784896327270232091

A bit more on that curious little bright spot adjacent to the SLIM lander:

https://twitter.com/this_is_tckb/status/1785878807557099996

This link goes to a tweet from the same person who posted the SLIM image, but it refers to an OHRC image of Chandrayaan 3. It also shows a small bright spot right next to the Vikram lander. The poster, Chandra, suggests it is Pragyan but it is in the wrong place. ISRO's map and a second map show Pragyan about 33 m northwest of the lander, and I have shown that it is visible at that location casting a shadow in an LRO image. And that same object is casting a long shadow in this new image too so the bright spot certainly is not Pragyan.

So, two OHRC images both showing a very bright lander at low sun and a small bright spot right next to it. I think it is an artifact, perhaps caused by an internal reflection in the camera and showing up because the real image of the lander is so bright.

Phil

An internal reflection should tend to appear along a radial line passing through the bright source and the optical axis (centre of frame). Considering the full frame, is that the case here?

I don't know where this is in the full frame.

On the SLIM website:

https://www.isas.jaxa.jp/home/slim/SLIM/gallery/index.html

a caption to this OHRC image notes: "It is unclear what the light spot in the immediate vicinity of SLIM is, but it appears to be about LEV-1 in size."

I had considered that, but I was puzzled by the appearance of a small bright spot adjacent to two different landers in images taken by the same camera. I looked for a common cause but I was probably wrong to do so. The LEV-2 image of the lander doesn't show anything at that location but the position of LEV-2 is not known yet, so LEV-1 might be hiding behind the lander.

Phil

SLIM did not survive the last lunar night. The mission is over.
https://x.com/SLIM_JAXA/status/1795310224548798726

Probably the end but not necessarily:


https://x.com/SLIM_JAXA/status/1795310331209904222

"Small lunar landing demonstrator SLIM
@SLIM_JAXA
We plan to try operating it again next month when it is expected that there will be sufficient solar power generation. The power was turned off overnight, so we hope that the whole system will be reset and restarted. #SLIM #JAXA
9:25 PM · May 27, 2024"


Phil

If that slight chance for SLIM to wake up again is still thought possible, right about now is when it should happen. I expect JAXA will be trying, but no word yet.

Phil