General  10 July, 2009 09:12

Get involved! Cloud spotted over a volcano on Mars!

This image is based on the image 09-183_09.09.59_VMC_Img_No_3.png and has had its saturation and contrast enhanced as well as an unsharp mask applied to try and bring out detail. It shows on the left of the image what appears to be a very interesting cloud coming from the peak of the volcano Arsia Mons.It's always great to have the public involved in the work being done by VMC and a few days ago we spotted what appears to be a particularly special VMC image we'd like you to look at. In the pictures from 2 July we were flying over the huge volcano chain on Mars, the Tharsis Montes. We spotted what appears to be an extremely long and thin cloud trailing from near the peak of the southernmost volcano, Arsia Mons, and we'd love to hear what you have to say about it!

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General  24 April, 2009 18:21

ESA astronaut Frank De Winne responds to YouTube questions

ESA astronaut Frank De Winne - off topicYes, yes: it's a little off-topic for the VMC blog, but this is waaaay cool! ESA astronaut Frank De Winne has agreed to accept video questions posted as a response to his invitation in YouTube. And get this: he's agreed to post answers to selected questions from his training location in Moscow or from space - on board the ISS once he launches (now due for 27 May). Access the full YT video after the jump...

We now return to our regular Mars Webcam blogging. :-)

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General  25 March, 2009 09:04

Mars Webcam - back online!

The VMC: An ordinary camera in an extraordinary place!

Crescent Mars - not visible to EarthlingsWelcome back everyone! After being offline for three months while Mars Express passed behind the Sun, the Visual Monitoring Camera (VMC) - known around here affectionately and unofficially as the 'Mars Webcam' - is back in action.

Our newest image sets are live below, and we're steadily getting more comfortable here in our new blog website (click on Full story for more details).

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An an image compiled from the 11 July 2009 MEX VMC image set created by M. Malaska, USA. 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 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. View of the North Polar cap of Mars taken by the Mars webcam (MEX-VMC) instrument from a distance of 10,000 km on September 30, 2010. This image was created by making an average of several images 2,4,6,8,10,12,14, and 16. Then Gaussian blurring this by 1 pixel to make a smooth color background. Next, Image No 12 was used as a luminosity layer. It was also used as a HiPass layer to enhance subtle details. Finally it was blended with some of the original Image No. 12. Contrast enhancement and rotation and cropping gave the final image. Image credits: ESA / Mike Malaska Credit: ESA/Peter Wellmann