Nov 10 1980
From The Space Library
The Washington Star reported the latest photographs from Voyager 1 on its way to Saturn revealed that the ring system was far more complex than Earth-based observation suggested. Besides rings within rings and a collection of particles filling the gaps between the major rings, the images showed in the brightest and widest inner rings fingerlike shadows like spokes, first seen two weeks ago, that scientists could not explain. Dr. Bradford A.
Smith, imaging team leader, called the photos "baffling." (W Star, Nov 7/80, B-2)
LaRC announced selection of Martin Marietta Corporation for negotiations leading to a $2 million, two-year contract for design and development of a real-time signal-processing system using new technologies to perform on a spacecraft several processing functions formerly carried out on the ground.
Elements to be developed included radiometric and geometric correction and packeting of data. The contractor would demonstrate these operations on Landsat-type data in a laboratory and would incorporate new signal processing functions into commercial-grade electronic components. Martin Marietta would do the work at its Denver facility. (LaRC Release 80-93)
ESA reported that Professor P Wild, University of Berne, had discovered a supernova in spiral galaxy NGC 6946; a relatively close galaxy appearing nearly face-on to the Earth and a prolific source of supernovas (5 in the past 63 years). Within three hours after Dr. Wild alerted the astronomical community, the Villafranca (Spain) tracking station used the international ultraviolet explorer Iue to acquire the first spectrum, before optical astronomers could do so from the ground.
Early spectra taken by the station near Madrid showed the supernova nearly at maximum and fading slowly, with a strong continuum representing a temperature of about 20,000°C. Before the object faded too far, it would be a target of concerted observations over the electromagnetic spectrum. ESA noted that such supernovas were rare, only two occurring per decade on the average; Iue observers were fortunate in witnessing the event, second seen since Iue's launch in January 1978. (ESA Info 26)
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