Creating stereoscopic images of Bennu wasn’t part of the original plan, but when OSIRIS-REx chief scientist Dante Lauretta invited Claudia Manzoni and Brian May to join the science team, they were tasked with searching through a vast archive of visual data that Bennu was taken by a probe, various options for stereoscopic images. As part of this work, the pair looked for pairs of images of the surface of the asteroid Bennu that were slightly offset from each other. This difference cannot be just any other. In order for images to be viewed stereoscopically, i.e. three-dimensionally, they must be taken at the correct distance from each other. Otherwise, the observer will not have the right impression of depth and reality.
Such viewing requires the left and right images to be “sent” separately to the left and right eyes. When this is done, the small differences between the two images are combined in the brain into the perception of the depth of the image. In the case of the current pair, these are photos that were taken after the images were delivered to Earth. By the time the sampling head was flipping over in the workers’ hands after being removed from the avionics package, there were plenty of photographers at the Johnson Center in Houston documenting the event from every possible angle. May and Manzoni thus managed to find one almost perfect pair in the flood of photos, which captures the fine structure of just a few coal-like grains of the dark material.
Two images showing samples from the asteroid Bennu, which can be viewed as a three-dimensional image.
Source:
These juxtaposed images can be seen in three dimensions if you force your eyes to squint. For some, it may be easier to relax the muscles that move the eyes as if they are focusing behind a monitor into the infinite distance. Or you can use the stereoscope, which was also used by the OSIRIS-REx mission team when they were looking for a suitable safe place for a difficult sampling maneuver. And also information about the scale – the largest “boulder” in the photo measures approximately 1 centimeter in its longest axis.
Image Sources:
https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/nelson-tagsam-shot-b.jpg
…/261/2023/10/May-Manzoni-Bennu-Stereo-Pair-scaled.jpg
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2023-10-18 15:56:53
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