General Space Mission Thread

[1.618034]

Geology on Pluto

Image Credit: NASA, Johns Hopkins Univ./APL, Southwest Research Inst.

Explanation: Pluto is coming into focus. As the robotic New Horizons spacecraft bears down on this unexplored world of the distant Solar System, new features on its surface are becoming evident. In the displayed image taken last Thursday and released yesterday, an unusual polygonal structure roughly 200 kilometers wide is visible on the left, while just below it relatively complex terrain runs diagonally across the dwarf planet. New Horizon's images and data on these structures will likely be studied for years to come in an effort to better understand the geologic history of Pluto and our Solar System. After suffering a troublesome glitch last week, New Horizons will make its historic flyby of Pluto and its moons on Tuesday.

Not sure if it's the pixellation but it looks like those "polygons" are all over the surface. Will be interesting to see what the view is like over the next couple of days.

 

[allan harper]

Tomorrow is the big day, looking forward to seeing Pluto in all its glory.

 

[1.618034]

Last Look at Pluto's Charon Side

Image Credit & Copyright: NASA, Johns Hopkins Univ./APL, Southwest Research Inst.

Explanation: Pluto surface is strange. As the robotic New Horizons barrels toward its closest approach to Pluto and its moons tomorrow, images already coming back show Pluto's surface to be curiouser and curiouser. The featured image, taken two days ago, shows the side of Pluto that always faces Pluto's largest moon Charon. Particularly noteworthy is the dark belt near the bottom that circles Pluto's equator. It is currently unclear whether regions in this dark belt are mountainous or flat, why boundaries are so sharply defined, and why the light regions seem to be nearly evenly spaced. As New Horizons will be flying past the other side of Pluto, this should be the best image of this distant landscape that humanity sees for a long time. Assuming the robotic spacecraft operates as hoped, images taken of the other side of Pluto, taken near closest approach, will be about 300 times more detailed.

The dark band around the equator looks like an ocean/seas/lakes, like on Titan, to me. Guessing it's relatively warmer in the tropics...? It would explain the clear boundary.

But the rest still looks very crystalline.

Roll on tomorrow.

 

[Le Havre Oswald]

I

Last Look at Pluto's Charon Side

Image Credit & Copyright: NASA, Johns Hopkins Univ./APL, Southwest Research Inst.

Explanation: Pluto surface is strange. As the robotic New Horizons barrels toward its closest approach to Pluto and its moons tomorrow, images already coming back show Pluto's surface to be curiouser and curiouser. The featured image, taken two days ago, shows the side of Pluto that always faces Pluto's largest moon Charon. Particularly noteworthy is the dark belt near the bottom that circles Pluto's equator. It is currently unclear whether regions in this dark belt are mountainous or flat, why boundaries are so sharply defined, and why the light regions seem to be nearly evenly spaced. As New Horizons will be flying past the other side of Pluto, this should be the best image of this distant landscape that humanity sees for a long time. Assuming the robotic spacecraft operates as hoped, images taken of the other side of Pluto, taken near closest approach, will be about 300 times more detailed.

The dark band around the equator looks like an ocean/seas/lakes, like on Titan, to me. Guessing it's relatively warmer in the tropics...? It would explain the clear boundary.

But the rest still looks very crystalline.

Roll on tomorrow.

I wouldn't like to visit with just a vest top on.

 

[1.618034]

I

I wouldn't like to visit with just a vest top on.

No. Maybe gloves and a snood might be advisable.

 

[Damocles]

That's pretty much it for a while now.

New Horizons has a fixed antenna and thus can't speak to Earth and point the very best cameras at Pluto at the same time. And when you've spent 10 years getting there and only have a ~38 hour window then it's probably sensible to keep it facing the planet for the whole time and worrying about communications later.

Have to admit that I'm quite excited to see the first high res shots.

 

[allan harper]

They're saying it's bigger than they thought, New horizons has measured it. Any chance Pluto can get promoted?

 

[Damocles]

They're saying it's bigger than they thought, New horizons has measured it. Any chance Pluto can get promoted?

Almost none at all.

 

[allan harper]

Almost none at all.

Because of its orbit?

 

[Damocles]

Because of its orbit?

This is a long and I imagine boring to the entire forum conversation, but the bones of it is that Pluto just isn't gravitationally dominant in its orbit enough to clear a path to qualify it as a planet.

Size is certainly linked to this as mass effects gravity but even a resizing of it wouldn't promote it out of the realms of a Plutoid. It isn't even the biggest Plutoid, with Ceres and Eris both been bigger size wise.