Another image of Vesta from Dawn has been released. This image was taken on July 9 from a distance of 26,000 miles away. It is definitely an improvement over the previous image, with more small details becoming visible. However, I once again wonder about the softness of the image. Look at the limb of the planet. It is soft against the black sky. This is not what one would expect from perfectly focused camera.
Dawn goes into orbit around Vesta next week. We sure learn then for sure if there is a problem with its camera, or whether I am merely being a bit too nervous.
ok this might be stupid and i’m halfway joking but what if the object itself is fuzzy? hehe . i’m sharing your concern . these pics aren’t sharp . if there’s something wrong with the focus it would be devastating . any mission faliures now will probably lead to worse budget cuts for all space projects
The caption says it was taken with the “Framing Camera.”
Is that camera mostly used for navaigation/star checks?
Perhaps the Hi-Res cameras havn’t been used yet.
There is no hi-res camera. There’s a mapping spectrometer that may show sharper detail but 150mm focal length is all she wrote, image-wise.
so we will get sharp images when dawn gets to orbit? well if the pics don’t get even prettier lets hope the scientific discoveries are extra pretty