back to article MAVEN snaps eight-bit SPACE INVADER

Comet Siding springs is proving a tricky subject for photography. But surely humanity's robot observers can do better than the image below, snapped by the MAVEN orbiter at a distance of about 8.5 million kilometres and depicting the comet as a Space Invader. Comet Siding Spring from 8.5m kms out Comet Siding Spring seen …

  1. et tu, brute?
    Coat

    Here's hoping...

    "So fret not: better pics of Comet Siding Spring are doubtless in the works"

    Would hope so, otherwise we will have to start doubting all the photos sent back by these robot observers... Are they all photoshopped based on pixelated photos like the one from Maven?

    Mine's the one with the photoshop DVD in the pocket...

    1. Voland's right hand Silver badge

      Re: Here's hoping...

      They are not exactly photoshopped :) They are however subject to very heavy processing and composition out of tens if not 100s of images. In this case you are looking at a more raw input for two reasons:

      1. It was a relatively short lived event. The usual "technique" of sitting with the cameras trained on the same object and streaming pictures to be combined into a final image ad-naseum was not applicable.

      2. It was moving. None of the instruments used to snap the pic were designed to be a telescope (with servo stabilization and tracking), so they had to use significantly shorter exposure.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    That's no comet

    It' a Doom health potion close-up.

  3. Mark 85

    So fret not: better pics of Comet Siding Spring are doubtless in the works

    Ok... <sips coffee><taps foot><stares a ceiling and counts the holes in the tiles><checks watch> Are they here yet?

  4. imanidiot Silver badge

    Probably a previes

    I would imagine they take a very low res quick shot and beam that home ASAP so they have time to set up a new imaging instruction before the target is gone. I'm amazed they even manage to photograph something moving at 56000 m/s from another thing moving at dozens of m/s.

  5. Denarius
    Thumb Up

    that we can see comet pics at all

    taken on another planet by surface crawling robots, designed to stare at dirt mostly is still a wonderful achievement. Well done to the boffins who made, navigate and do real research with these machines.

  6. Tony Haines

    The tricky last one

    I'm not going to worry until it suddenly moves closer then starts going back in the other direction.

  7. Loyal Commenter Silver badge

    When I see the name 'MAVEN', I can't help but think of Arbiter Maven

  8. VeganVegan
    Flame

    Remarkable robotic machinery we humans have managed to send out there!

    But, is there anyone else beside me who is sick of the anthropomorphic, cutesy characterizations of these marvelously designed machines?

    The "plucky" this or that, all lonesome on a far distant planet is too much. What is it plucking? Some smelly Martian rose? And, pretending that they tweet clever little messages is going much too far.

    Yes, we want to encourage our kids to go into a STEM career, but a smart kid who is considering it is going to get turned off by all the false-cutesy stuff.

    </rant, I feel so much better now, thanks for bearing with me>

  9. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    So fret not:

    "So fret not: better pics of Comet Siding Spring are doubtless in the works"

    I don't care!!!! The photo was taken by a frikken remote controlled atomic tank from the surface of another frikken planet. Said tank even has frikken lasers. That's already frikken cool!1!!one!!

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