Public Submissions  31 July, 2009 09:37

Full text: 2 July 2009 Arsia Mons Cloud Observed by the MEX-VMC Instrument

Full text of the report written by Mars Webcam site visitor Mike Malaska, USA, and sent to us a few days after we published the intriguing Mars Express VMC image showing the cloud over Arsia Mons on 2 July 2009. We've also included links to the PDF version, the SlideShare.com version and the images in Mike's Flickr pages.

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Public Submissions  30 July, 2009 11:52

Data from Google Mars, ESA Mars Webcam and NASA/JPL: Excellent analysis of Martian cloud

Left: MEX-VMC image rotated so that the Martian North Pole is up. Cloud near Arsia Mons is outlined in red and indicated by a red arrow. Right: Still from MARCI movie for 2 July 2009. Red arrow indicates Arsia Mons. Image credits: ESA/NASA/JPL/Malin Space Systems/Mike MalaskaShortly after publishing the intriguing Mars Express VMC image showing the cloud over Arsia Mons on 2 July, we received an excellent analysis from one of our regular site visitors, Mike Malaska, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA. He used the Mars Express VMC image together with NASA/JPL images and data from Google Mars in his analysis. We were impressed by Mike's in-depth report, and sent it on to several of the scientists working here at ESA for their comment (more details under 'Full story'). Herewith, and with Mike's kind permission, we'd like to republish his report in full - and with our sincere thanks for his hard work and well-argued results.

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Image Sets  25 July, 2009 09:12

New Images From 25 July 2009 Added

09-206_08.42.47_VMC_Img_No_1.pngNew images have been posted to the image database. These images are from the VMC observation on 25 July 2009. To access the images click the link below. Also you can access the Celestia file to see where the images were captured and access the raw data in the zip file (for more details see Help us with the VMC)



25/07/2009 08:42-09:12 Gallery

Celestia Script

Raw Files Archive
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Public Submissions  23 July, 2009 16:05

VMC Desktop Wallpaper - Bogdan Stancescu

Mars Webcam wallpaper by Bogdan Stancescu

The latest VMC public submission aims to brighten up your computer desktop! Bogdan Stancescu of Bucharest, Romania, has created this stunning desktop wallpaper for you to download and use. It features a VMC observation from October 2008 that has been post-processed to bring out amazing detail and colour in the image. Let him and us know what you think in the comments section, and click through for more on how he did it.

 

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Image Sets  19 July, 2009 15:17

New Images From 19 July 2009 Added

09-200_14.49.15_VMC_Img_No_1.pngNew images have been posted to the image database. These images are from the VMC observation on 19 July 2009. To access the images click the link below. Also you can access the Celestia file to see where the images were captured and access the raw data in the zip file (for more details see Help us with the VMC)



19/07/2009 14:49-15:17 Gallery

Celestia Script

Raw Files Archive
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   Slideshow
Mosaic credit ESA/R. Mahkin Sixty-four Views of Mars from Mars Express VMC || The Mars Webcam (more officially known as the Mars Express Visual Monitoring Camera or VMC) has been capturing global views of Mars for the public since October 2007. These 64 images were taken between July 2 and November 15, 2008 and July 1 and August 15, 2009. This image is available as an 11-by-17-inch poster from The Planetary Society Store. Credit: Data courtesy of ESA / processing by Emily Lakdawalla. Doug Ellison: Mars Limb Mosaic, 15th December 2010. I used ugordan's VMC2RGB app to convert the .raw VMC files into .png images. Then I used Photoshop to enhance the colour saturation and mosaic the frames. Image credits: Doug Ellison/ESA March 19, 2009 Cloud Detail (Personal Project for 100 Hours of Astronomy, April 2-5 IYA2009) To make this image, several MEX-VMC images acquired on March 19, 2008 were used, specifically: 09-078_19.26.32_VMC_Img_No_2.png, 09-078_19.27.25_VMC_Img_No_3.png, 09-078_19.29.12_VMC_Img_No_5.png and 09-078_19.30.05_VMC_Img_No_6.png. All the images were aligned and resized in Photoshop. The two darkest images, No. 2 and No. 6 were averaged (No 2 at 50% opacity). Contrast was adjusted to bring out cloud detail in the non-overexposed region. Then image No. 3 was added to the stack, and a fuzzy layer mask added to image No. 3 that corresponded to the overexposed portion of image No. 3, yet would allow the grays of the No. 2/No. 6 combination image to show through. Next, the brightest image No. 5 was added, with a fuzzy layer mask added that corresponded to the overexposed portion of image No. 5, yet would allow the grays of No. 3 (and also No. 2/No. 6 combination) image to show through. This stack was contrast enhanced using curves and levels. This image was then Gaussian blurred gently (0.4 pixel), then an Unsharp mask was applied. Residual color information was removed using a Black & White adjustment layer. A camera artifact near the crescent edge was removed using clone stamp and a Gaussian blur of a selected region. Finally, a second contrast adjustment was performed using Curves and Levels. With this technique, the full detail of the cloud patterns observed by the MEX-VMC camera can be revealed across the crescent Mars. Mike Malaska Chapel Hill, North Carolina USA