(Image: NASA/JPL/Ted Stryk)
Never-before-seen images of Neptune's moon Despina passing in front of the ice giant planet were found in the dusty archives of the Voyager 2 mission, which launched in 1977 and is now heading out of the solar system.
Ted Stryk, an amateur astronomer with a passion for old data, found the 20-year-old frames, which were originally taken for atmospheric data. That may be why the transit images had been missed before – atmospheric scientists might have deliberately ignored the object's shadow on Neptune's cloud tops. These "new" images could help scientists pin down the orbit of the 148-km-wide moon.
Ted Stryk, an amateur astronomer with a passion for old data, found the 20-year-old frames, which were originally taken for atmospheric data. That may be why the transit images had been missed before – atmospheric scientists might have deliberately ignored the object's shadow on Neptune's cloud tops. These "new" images could help scientists pin down the orbit of the 148-km-wide moon.
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