Hyperion and Tethys

Cassini had close encounters with two moons of Saturn in the last week and the photos are coming in. The moons are very different and the photos are very amazing.

Here's a full frame view of Tethys, but the false color closeup is what seems really alien. (Flyby distance: 310 miles)

This full frame view of Hyperion shows a bizarre, spongy looking surface, but what puzzles Top Men is the dark material in the bottom of the craters. Also check out NASA's Hyperion flyby movie. (Flyby distance: 930 miles)

Visions of Science

Science and art converge in the Visions of Science competition. Pretty photos of amazing stuff. Top Men's favorites are...

- Worship (thumbnail above)
- Salt and Pepper
- Surface Tension
- Red Pendulum
- Orchid X-ray
- Transforming Pankton

(Thanks Brice)

Martian Spy Satellite

As mentioned in August on Wohba, the camera test of the Mars Reconnoissance Orbiter went as planned, and it gives us a hint of the kind of images we're gonna see when it arrives at Mars next year...

- It snapped this image of our moon from 6 million miles away.

- It's going orbit Mars at a distance of 186 miles.

- 20,000 pixel by 60,000 pixel images of Mars - resolution to 1 meter.

If that's what we're sending to Mars, Top Men would love to see the images from the birds the military has orbiting our own Earth.

Liquid Sculpture

Sometimes the Top Men here at Wohba wish they had nothing better to do than drop various liquids onto various surfaces and take amazing photos of what happens. But the Top Men here at Wohba are too darn busy for such frivolity, so we let other people do things like that.

To blantantly corrupt a favorite saying of Brice's mom - We provide links.

(Thanks Eleri)

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Deep Sea Real-time Streaming Video

(Top Men are back. Someday we'll tell you about it.)

You've got only today and tomorrow (Sept 28th and 29th) to check out the live video being streamed from a mile and a half below the ocean's surface. The expedition is focusing on a suite of undersea hot springs associated with volcanoes and located at the northern end of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Lots of critters and vents.