Brotherhood of moons
Digital work
Jupiter, Europa, Io and Callisto seen from the icy surface of Ganymede.
Hermandad de lunas. Obra digital.
Júpiter, Europa, Io y Calisto vistos desde la helada superficie de Ganimedes.
A serene night on Europa
Digital work
The Sun is situated below the horizon and the only sources of light that illuminate the smooth and white surface of Europa at this time are Jupiter and Io. The light appears to be somewhat bluish to the human eye, as it happens here on Earth with the moonlight, due to the Purkinje effect: When the luminance level is reduced, our vision changes progressively from photopic (cone cells, full color) to mesopic and finally scotopic (rod cells, black and white) and the last colors we perceive are those of short wavelength. The surface of Europa is very reflective. It has an albedo of 0.64, one of the highest in the Solar System.
Una noche serena en Europa. Obra digital.
El Sol está situado por debajo del horizonte y las únicas fuentes de luz que iluminan ahora la suave y blanca superficie de Europa son Júpiter e Io. La tenue luz del paisaje aparenta ser un tanto azulada al ojo humano, tal y como sucede aquí en la Tierra con la luz de la Luna. Es debido al efecto Purkinje: Cuando el nivel de luminancia disminuye nuestro modo de visión pasa progresivamente de fotópico (visión a todo color por conos) a mesópico y finalmente escotópico (visión por bastoncillos en blanco y negro). Los últimos colores que percibimos son los de longitud de onda corta.
La superficie de Europa es muy reflectante. Tiene un albedo de 0.64, uno de los más altos del Sistema Solar.
Dust storm on Mars
Digital work
Mars has intense dust storms, which sometimes kick up enough dust to be seen by telescopes on Earth. Every year there are some moderately big dust storms that pop up on Mars and they cover continent-sized areas and last for weeks. Once every three Mars years (about 5.5 Earth years), on average, normal storms grow into planet-encircling dust storms, called "global dust storms".
It is unlikely that even these dust storms could strand an astronaut on Mars, however. Even the wind in the largest storms likely could not tip or rip apart major mechanical equipment. The winds in the strongest Martian storms top out at about 100 km (60 miles) per hour, less than half the speed of some hurricane-force winds on Earth. But the atmosphere of Mars is only about 1% as dense as Earth's atmosphere. That means to fly a kite on Mars, the wind would need to blow much faster than on Earth to get the kite in the air.
And Mars got its ring...
Digital work
This is my personal view of the future Martian ring. This image would fit well on a dusty dawn at a latitude of about 20ºN during a Martian equinox.
Phobos is moving closer to Mars every year, meaning the planet's gravitional pull on the satellite is increasing. Some scientists have theorized that Phobos will eventually collide with Mars, but the new research suggests that the small moon may not last that long. After simulating the stresses caused by the tidal pull of Mars some researchers have found that the moon would break up over the course of 20 million to 40 million years, forming a ring of debris around the planet. WOW!
Earth as seen from Mars
Digital work
Based on the images taken by Mars Curiosity Rover on January 31, 2014. From Mars our planet is a bright morning or evening "star", it appears in the west after sunset or in the east before dawn. Very similar to Venus in our sky with a magnitude of -2,5.
La Tierra vista desde Marte. Obra digital.
Ilustración inspirada en las imágenes tomadas por el Mars Curiosity Rover el 31 de enero de 2014. Desde Marte nuestro planeta es como una brillante estrella del crepúsculo matutino o vespertino, aparece en el oeste tras la puesta de Sol o en el este antes del amanecer. Muy similar a Venus en nuestro cielo, con una magnitud de -2,5.
Mars as seen from Phobos
Digital work
Separated by a short distance of 9,380 kilometers, from Phobos Mars is immense. The angular size of 40º is 80 times our Moon as seen from Earth.
Marte visto desde Fobos. Obra digital.
Separados por la corta distancia de 9.380 kilómetros, desde Fobos Marte se ve inmenso. Con un tamaño angular de 40º es 80 veces nuestra Luna vista desde la Tierra.
Phobos and Deimos in the sky of Mars
Digital work
Phobos moves very quickly in the sky of Mars. From its dawn in the west to its setting in the east, the satellite crosses the Martian sky in only 4 hours and 15 minutes. The angular size is about 0.20 °, one-third the size of the Moon in our sky. Deimos is visible with a size of 2.5 arcminutes, similar to Venus seen from Earth.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)