March 11, 2016
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA and Dr Paolo C. Fienga for the additional process. and color.
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This absolutely wonderful Contextual Image (or "CTX Frame", for short) of the Dwarf Planet 1-Ceres, taken by the NASA - Dawn Spacecraft on January, 25th, 2016, shows us a (relatively) small patch of the usual - for this specific Dwarf-Planet - and extremely bright (still unknown, in origin) Material that is close to the Northern Rim of the giant Impact Crater known as Yalode, which is (barely) visible at the lower left (Sx) of the frame. Yalode Crater is one of the largest Impact Basins that have been - so far - seen on 1-Ceres; it has a diameter of about 160 miles (such as approx. 257,4944 Km). The NASA - Dawn Spacecraft captured the scene during its Low-Altitude Mapping Orbit (or "LAMO", for short), from an approx. altitude of 240 miles (such as about 386,2416 Km) above the Surface of 1-Ceres. The Image Resolution is roughly 120 feet (i.e. about 36,576 meters) per pixel (---> Picture Element). This image (which is an Original NASA - Dawn Spacecraft's b/w and NON Map-Projected frame published on the NASA - Planetary Photojournal with the ID n. PIA 20398 - DAWN LAMO Image n. 44) has been additionally processed, extra-magnified to aid the visibility of the details, contrast enhanced and sharpened, Gamma corrected and then colorized (according to an educated guess carried out by Dr Paolo C. Fienga-LXTT-IPF) in Absolute Natural Colors (such as the colors that a normal human eye would actually perceive if someone were onboard the NASA - Dawn Spacecraft and then looked ahead, towards the Surface of 1-Ceres), by using an original technique created - and, in time, dramatically improved - by the Lunar Explorer Italia Team. |
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