New Horizons flyby of Pluto [updated for Ultima Thule]

[Janus]

It wasn't until 1978 that Charon was was even noticed, and that was as an elongation of the image of Pluto. Up until then the pair was seen as a single image and was thought to be a single object. (The discovery of Charon caused us to realize that we were over estimating the size of Pluto, since the light we thought was just due to Pluto was actually due to a pair of objects. For instance, I have a 1955 astronomy text that gives an estimated diameter of 4000 mi for Pluto which put it between Mercury and Mars in terms of size.)

 

[DaveC426913]

...I have a 1955 astronomy text ...

Woah woah woah. Let's not go as far back as before the invention of science here.
I mean, you guys thought the Sun was a Chariot!

 

[mfb]

They are never more than 1 arcsecond apart, that is close to the resolution limit of ground-based telescopes without adaptive optics or techniques like lucky imaging.

 

[Janus]

Woah woah woah. Let's not go as far back as before the invention of science here.
I mean, you guys thought the Sun was a Chariot!

The book itself is older than I am, I have it because several years ago I had the chance to go through some books that had been removed from the Oregon State Library. At the same time I picked up a physics text from 1916.

 

[OmCheeto]

...a physics text from 1916.

That wouldn't be "A First Course in Physics", by Millikan and Gale would it? It seems I picked up a copy, for 50 cents, some time in the past.

[edit] Doh! Never mind. It says 1913.

 

[Janus]

That wouldn't be "A First Course in Physics", by Millikan and Gale would it? It seems I picked up a copy, for 50 cents, some time in the past.

[edit] Doh! Never mind. It says 1913.

Mine is "College Physics" by Reed and Guthe. The first copyright date is 1910, but I got the 1916 reprint.
I also have a copy of "Introductory College Physics" by Blackwood, Copyright 1939 and " An Outline of Atomic Physics" by the Physics staff of the University of Pittsburgh, copyright 1933. One of the 7 authors of which is the Blackwood from the previous text

 

[|Glitch|]

I was unable to find any 40 year old pictures of Pluto, which would have been no more than an artist's impression of a featureless ball.

Danged internet. Why can't it show me stuff from the 70s? There should be a 'time' filter.

I found and image of Pluto from 1970!

 

[Astronuc]

In memory of marcus, who would enjoy things fascinating and surprising, and even astonishing.

Scientists studying the treasure trove of data yielded by NASA's New Horizons mission have found that Pluto's interaction with the solar wind is unique in our solar system.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/20...t-a-planet-A-comet-Or-something-else-entirely

“The results are astonishing. We were fascinated and surprised,” said lead author David J. McComas, who manages the Solar Wind Around Pluto (SWAP) instrument aboard New Horizons. “We've now visited all nine of the classical planets and examined all their solar wind interactions, and we've never seen anything like this.”

“This is an intermediate interaction, a completely new type. It's not comet-like, and it's not planet-like. It's in-between,” said Dr. McComas, who is also a professor in Princeton University's Department of Astrophysical Sciences and vice president for the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.

To their surprise, they found that Pluto’s gravity was sufficiently sturdy to retain heavy ions in its extended atmosphere. Indeed, as noted by Michael Liemohn, a University of Michigan astrophysicist not involved in the research but who helped edit the paper, the researchers found that “only a wisp of atmosphere leaves the planet as ions.”

 

[DennisN]

Scientists studying the treasure trove of data yielded by NASA's New Horizons mission have found that Pluto's interaction with the solar wind is unique in our solar system.

Very interesting!

 

[Astronuc]

New Horizons' Best Close-Up of Pluto's Surface
http://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-horizons-best-close-up-of-plutos-surface

 

[Borg]

Today's APOD shows Pluto from its dark side.

 

[DaveC426913]

New Horizons' Best Close-Up of Pluto's Surface
http://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-horizons-best-close-up-of-plutos-surface

I made an image out of this, so it can be browsed at-will.

http://www.davesbrain.ca/miscpix/hi-rez-pluto.jpg

Also, is there a badge for longest post?

 

[Drakkith]

Also, is there a badge for longest post?

You've got my vote!

 

[DaveC426913]

You've got my vote!

Heh. For a second there, I thought you were going to quote my whole post - and steal the badge right out from under me.

 

[Borg]

More Pluto goodness on APOD today.

Explanation: Pluto's pitted plains meet rugged highlands in this stunning view. On the left lies a southeastern extent of the bright region still informally known as Sputnik Planum. At right the edge of a dark region, informally Krun Macula, rises some 2.5 kilometers above the icy plains. Along the boundary, connected clusters of large pits form deep valleys, some over 40 kilometers long with shadowy floors. Nitrogen ice is likely responsible for the more reflective plains. The dark red color of the highlands is thought to be from complex compounds called tholins, a product of ultraviolet light induced chemical reactions with methane in Pluto's atmosphere. The enhanced color image includes portions of the highest and second highest resolution image data from the New Horizons July 2015 flyby of the distant world.

 

[1oldman2]

Here is something new.
http://Earth'sky.org/space/liquid-water-ocean-under-pluto-ice

 

[1oldman2]

The mission continues to evolve.
http://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-hor...ension-to-kuiper-belt-dawn-to-remain-at-ceres
https://blogs.nasa.gov/pluto/
https://blogs.nasa.gov/pluto/2016/06/24/new-horizons-getting-to-know-a-kbo/

 

[Astronuc]

We really need to get some probes and cameras down on that surface.
I'd like to have craft flying through the atmosphere of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

 

[mfb]

You want a reliable source of power without too many moving parts - a nuclear powered ramjet? Would be amazing.

The outer planets always have the data transmission issue - you can quickly shoot thousands of photos and do other measurements, but they need years to get back, and the probes have to survive long enough.

 

[1oldman2]

I'm thinking "New Horizons" has got to be one of the most important missions ever launched, I can't wait to see what becomes of the next target encounter. http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs/2016/0711-new-horizons-science-team-meeting.html

 

[mfb]

2014 MU69 in 2019.

I don't think there is enough fuel to visit yet another target beyond that. The distant fly-by observations of other objects won't produce images I guess - spectroscopic data, ideally time-resolved, and a search for moons.

 

[ProfuselyQuarky]

I love you, too, Pluto. (sorry)

 

[1oldman2]

Looks like we aren't done with Pluto yet.
http://blogs.nasa.gov/pluto/2016/07/22/pluto-preparing-for-the-perfect-alignment/

 

[mfb]

This is a purely Earth-based observation however. Interesting things with the discovery date.

 

[Fervent Freyja]

Looks like we aren't done with Pluto yet.
http://blogs.nasa.gov/pluto/2016/07/22/pluto-preparing-for-the-perfect-alignment/

Love your new avatar Old Man, much more fitting!

 

[1oldman2]

Interesting things with the discovery date.

I was surprised to learn about all the information that could be deduced from the "opposition effect" as well as different phase angles.

 

[1oldman2]

Love your new avatar Old Man, much more fitting!

Thanks, the last ones have been oils by my favorite artist, Maxfield Parrish. The screen shots from the ISS cams are another "hobby" I enjoy.

 

[1oldman2]

More interesting "stuff" from New Horizons,
From, http://www.nasa.gov/feature/pluto-s-methane-snowcaps-on-the-edge-of-darkness
From, http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/new-horizons-spies-a-kuiper-belt-companion

NASA’s New Horizons is doing some sightseeing along the way, as the spacecraft speeds toward a
New Year’s Day 2019 date with an ancient object in the distant region beyond Pluto known as 2014
MU69.

New Horizons recently observed the dwarf planet Quaoar ("Kwa-war"), which - at 690 miles or 1,100
kilometers in diameter - is roughly half the size of Pluto. This animated sequence shows composite
images taken by New Horizons’ Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) at four different times
over July 13-14: "A" on July 13 at 02:00 Universal Time; "B" on July 13 at 04:08 UT; "C" on July 14 at
00:06 UT; and "D" on July 14 at 02:18 UT. Each composite includes 24 individual LORRI images,
providing a total exposure time of 239 seconds and making the faint object easier to see.
(see image in the article)

 

[lpetrich]

With HORIZONS Web-Interface one can find ephemeris calculations for many of the larger Solar-System objects. On this day (Sept 1), Quaoar was about 42 AU from the Sun and moving inwards at about 150 m/s, New Horizons about 36 AU away and moving outward at about 14 km/s.

Relative to New Horizons, Quaoar is about 13.7 AU away, approaching at 6.6 km/s, and about 110d from the Sun in direction. From Quaoar, the Sun and NH are about 53d apart. So NH saw Quaoar at a good departure from the Sun's direction.

 

[1oldman2]

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6651

The next target for NASA's New Horizons mission -- which made a historic flight past Pluto in July 2015 -- apparently bears a colorful resemblance to its famous, main destination.

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope data suggests that 2014 MU69, a small Kuiper Belt object (KBO) about a billion miles (1.6 billion kilometers) beyond Pluto, is as red, if not redder, than Pluto. This is the first hint at the surface properties of the far-flung object that New Horizons will survey on Jan. 1, 2019.

Mission scientists are discussing this and other Pluto and Kuiper Belt findings this week at the American Astronomical Society Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) and European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC) meeting in Pasadena, California.

"We're excited about the exploration ahead for New Horizons, and also about what we are still discovering from Pluto flyby data," said Alan Stern, principal investigator from Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. "Now, with our spacecraft transmitting the last of its data from last summer's flight through the Pluto system, we know that the next great exploration of Pluto will require another mission to be sent there."