New Looks at Phobos from Mars Express Flyby [English - italian note]

Phobos, as seen by Mars Express on Jan. 9, 2011 from a distance of about 100 km. Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum

The Mars Express team released the images today from the close flyby the spacecraft made of Phobos on January 9. The images weren’t downloaded from Mars Express until Jan. 18, and then they were processed, so these are hot off the press. The team didn’t provide much explanation, but enjoy the images. There’s one 3-D view in the group, so grab your 3-D glasses.

Il team di Mars Express ha rilasciato le immagini dell'incontro ravvicinato di Phobos del 9 Gennaio 2011.

Another view of Phobos from Mars Express. Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

A sequence of images from 5 different channels on the high resolution camera on Mars Express. Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum) - 

Sequenza di 5 "canali" HRSC, orbita 8.974: (da sinistra a destra) S1 stereo (4,1m/pixel), P1 fotometrica (8,1m/pixel),nadir ND (3,9m/pixel), P2 fotometrica (8,2m/pixel), S2 stereo (4,3m/pixel).

3-D view of Phobos from Jan. 9, 2011. Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Here’s the on 3-D view, and the team explained that due to the stereo viewing geometry during the flyby a small part of the moon’s edge is only visible for the right eye resulting in odd 3D-perception in this area. This part has been slightly adjusted for better viewing. Also, for the left eye at the left edge of the image four small data gaps have been interpolated.

Image of Phobos with a resolution of 8.2 m/pixel in orbit 8974. The ellipses marked the previously planned (red) and currently considered (blue) landing sites for the Russian Phobos-Grunt mission. Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)
Le ellissi marcano il sito precedente scelto (rosso) e l'attuale confermato (azzurro)  per l'atterraggio per la missione russa Phobos-Grunt. 


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