7/18/2005 8:35:03 AM Pacific Standard Time
Mr. Steadman,
The SOHO pic at this URL appears to have
been aggressively modified:
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/javagif/gifs/20050717_0042_c3.gif
The large object at 10 o'clock relative to the
solar disc appears to have been rather crudely painted over.
When I zoom it way in, it becomes apparent that
the anti aliasing is not present as and where it should be.
The top and bottom of the object are excellently
anti-aliased (that is the fuzzy area where one color gradually fades into
another).
But the middle part looks like someone scribbled over the object but forgot to anti-alias the color transitions, and forgot to increase the palette size. It appears that someone painted this .gif file with a mere 256 colors, which prevents anti-aliasing, as that requires 64M colors in the palette to make it look convincing. This does not look convincing nor natural. The large object over near Saturn is perfectly anti-aliased, by way of comparison.
It is ok to take my word for this, as I do web graphics and coding for my livelihood. This is sent from my work email so that you know I am legit. I could have doctored this picture much more convincingly, they should call me ::grin:: (lol)
I have looked at literally thousands of SOHO photo files by now, and know how they ought to look.
I could also be wrong about this. This effect could perhaps also be caused by a sharply delineated albedo on an object that close to old Sol. That still doesn't explain what this critter is, nor the voluminous other SOHO anomalies I see and zoom in for analysis in 1024x768 almost every single day. Yes, not unlike that Portuguese website…thank you for posting that link, BTW.
I know this sounds crazy, but a lot of times the SOHO anomalies look like potentially artificial objects? I didn't actually say spacecraft, but that is a primary example of an artificial object…that might be near the Sun, especially if that is how they acquire their fuel.
Amateur Astrophysicist
and unrepentant SOHO addict
