RonBurgundy
sage
Reged: 06/16/09
Posts: 252
Loc: Philadelphia
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Today, the Messenger spacecraft zoomed past Mercury. The Result? Images of parts of Mercury never seen before! Check it out!
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Kipp Ginsburg
8" LX200-ACF
Orion 120mm F/5.0 Piggybacked Refractor
Meade UWA Set [4.7mm-30mm]
DSI-II
Edited by RonBurgundy (11/03/09 11:10 PM)
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hm insulators
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/22/07
Posts: 1357
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There's an article about it in today's paper.
www.azcentral.com
It's right there on the opening page.
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hm insulators
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/22/07
Posts: 1357
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My computer doesn't seem to want to download them.
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llanitedave
Humble Megalomaniac
Reged: 09/26/05
Posts: 12939
Loc: Amargosa Valley, NV, USA
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The link worked for me. I had forgotten that this was the time for the flyby. Wonderful stuff!
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"Since the process of science generates more mysteries than it solves, I predict that we'll never learn everything: and we'll continue to generate new ignorance at the speed of knowledge."
"S.O.E." (Sauron's Other Eye), with 16" Royce conical mirror: A permanent work in progress.
10" Homebuilt dob, old Coulter mirror
Under Construction: The "Eye of Sauron" Observatory!
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Rick Woods
Postmaster
Reged: 01/27/05
Posts: 5664
Loc: Inner Solar System
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It looked to me like those were images of a flyby in late September - did I miss something?
I can't wait til NASA releases an updated Atlas of Mercury! I hope they spend a little time relating the classical albedo features to actual topographical features.
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- Rick
14" LX200GPS
Dyslexics Untie!
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RonBurgundy
sage
Reged: 06/16/09
Posts: 252
Loc: Philadelphia
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Ahhh.... Mr. Rick... Yes, there was a flyby in September. The Messenger website, however, did not update everything yet. But, just below the new pictures on the front page, a small "update" report confirms the November 3 flyby. I think the coolest image is the new basin. It looks huge!
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Kipp Ginsburg
8" LX200-ACF
Orion 120mm F/5.0 Piggybacked Refractor
Meade UWA Set [4.7mm-30mm]
DSI-II
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Rick Woods
Postmaster
Reged: 01/27/05
Posts: 5664
Loc: Inner Solar System
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I think the release is dated November 3. The beginning of the article says:
"A NASA spacecraft's third and final flyby of the planet Mercury gives scientists, for the first time, an almost complete view of the planet's surface and provides new scientific findings about this relatively unknown planet.
The Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging spacecraft, known as MESSENGER, flew by Mercury on Sept. 29."
Also, the buttons at the left give the 3 flyby dates as 1/14/2008, 10/06/2008, and 9/29/2009.
None of which makes it any less awesome! 
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- Rick
14" LX200GPS
Dyslexics Untie!
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RonBurgundy
sage
Reged: 06/16/09
Posts: 252
Loc: Philadelphia
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Oops! Oh well, I guess it is a press release. I was under the impression that there was a Sept 29 flyby, and yet another yesterday. I suppose the next one isn't a flyby at all, but an orbital entry  ... That'll be a first. I wonder what they'll find at the poles, if anything different? I know that this is a full Mercury mapping / analyzation mission. As with Galileo & Cassini, I bet we'll end up learning things we never expected from studying the planet. Go Messenger!!!
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Kipp Ginsburg
8" LX200-ACF
Orion 120mm F/5.0 Piggybacked Refractor
Meade UWA Set [4.7mm-30mm]
DSI-II
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Rick Woods
Postmaster
Reged: 01/27/05
Posts: 5664
Loc: Inner Solar System
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As one of only three planets whose surfaces we amateurs can study, Mercury has always had a special place in my astro-world. I suffered for years with nothing but Antoniadi's map; then with the 1/3 or so that Mariner 10 mapped; now, we get the whole story!
Farewell to the mystery, though. *sigh* You win something, you lose something else.
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- Rick
14" LX200GPS
Dyslexics Untie!
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Shadowalker
Unpretentious Rocket Scientist
Reged: 11/23/04
Posts: 3525
Loc: Poplarville, MS, USA
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Messenger is the only launch I ever saw "live." Was at the Cape for other business, but the times coincided. And I got to sit in on the launch readiness review. A lot of fun, that trip.
It was a Delta 2 launch past midnight. I have some pics somewhere...
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Tom Nicolaides
http://www.first-light.org
My evil self is at that door, and I have no power to stop it
-- Dr. Edward Morbius
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Scott Horstman
Vendor- Backyard Observatories
Reged: 03/11/04
Posts: 8074
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Awesome. I can't wait for orbit insertion in March 2011.
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