Blog Archive

Jupiter and Io from Pleiades-1B (animation)

Pretty picture: Jupiter photo from an unusual source

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/12/26 01:02 CST | 4 comments

A recently launched Earth-observing satellite is using the stars to practice its pointing, and caught a neat animation of Jupiter.

Mount Sharp / Aeolis Mons, Curiosity sol 45 Mastcam-100 panorama

Who is the photographer behind Mars rover photos? Answer from Mark Lemmon

Posted by Mark Lemmon on 2012/12/21 11:10 CST | 2 comments

A Mars imaging scientist answers the question: who is the "photographer" behind images returned from Mars?

56 views of Mars from the Mars Webcam in 2012

Mars Express VMC resumes raw data posting

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/12/19 09:31 CST | 2 comments

ESA brought Mars Express' VMC back online in May, but hasn't been posting the images. This week, they launched a new process to release VMC images automatically to a Flickr page.

Asteroids and comets visited by spacecraft as of December 2012, in color, excepting Vesta

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/12/18 04:26 CST | 9 comments

My collage of all the asteroids and comets visited by spacecraft is probably the single most popular image I have ever posted on this blog. I've now updated it to be in color and to include Toutatis.

Chang'E 2 imaging of Toutatis succeeded beyond my expectations!

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/12/14 05:59 CST | 19 comments

The Chang'E 2 mission flyby of Toutatis succeeded in acquiring images. Oh my goodness, did they succeed. These, in combination with the incredible radar images still being acquired from Goldstone and innumerable optical observations, make Toutatis one of the best-studied asteroids in the solar system.