New color images from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft show two very different faces of the mysterious dwarf planet, one with a series of intriguing spots along the equator that are evenly spaced. Each of the spots is about 300 miles in diameter, with a surface area that's roughly the size of the state of Missouri.
Scientists have yet to see anything quite like the dark spots; their presence has piqued the interest of the New Horizons science team, due to the remarkable consistency in their spacing and size. While the origin of the spots is a mystery for now, the answer may be revealed as the spacecraft continues its approach to the mysterious dwarf planet.
and what's beyond - its very exciting....I wish I was involved in space exploration first hand.
The Kuiper Belt. I seriously doubt I'll be alive to see a probe capture images of anything that's beyond this solar system, including the Oort Cloud. People think distances in the solar system are huge, but they're nothing compared to the distances of things outside of it, unless going at light speed, and that's for the closest things as well.
It's amazing how bright it is considering the vast distance between Pluto and the Sun. And that colour! How exciting!
Over the years I've read books saying that from Pluto the Sun just looks like a very bright star, so I wondered how much light there would be out there. Well, NASA have come up with this Pluto time calculator, which tells you when the illumination at your location - on a clear day - matches that of Pluto at noon, and it's surprisingly light, I thought: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/plutotime/
The colour is striking, too. At first glance it looks almost like Mars.
It really is. Even less than a hundred years ago people didn't know that the misty blobs seen through telescopes were other galaxies! They argued that the blobs were in fact part of our own galaxy and that it was the entire sum of the Universe. Many refused even to accept the notion of an expanding Universe, including Einstein! He later had to admit that he was totally wrong.
Now we have the Big Bang, quantum physics, mind-boggling stuff about relativity, the fact that time itself isn't absolute, photographic evidence of the Big Bang in the Cosmic Microwave Background; we've been on the Moon, have launched observatories and space stations into orbit, can see over 13 billion years into the Universe's past, landed on a comet and have sent probes to all the planets in the solar system.
We're all so lucky to be around in the 20th/21st century as it's been one incredible discovery after another in quick succession.
Over the years I've read books saying that from Pluto the Sun just looks like a very bright star, so I wondered how much light there would be out there. Well, NASA have come up with this Pluto time calculator, which tells you when the illumination at your location - on a clear day - matches that of Pluto at noon, and it's surprisingly light, I thought: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/plutotime/
The colour is striking, too. At first glance it looks almost like Mars.
Thanks for the link. Pluto at noon is the same as around 10pm where I am so I'll go out tonight and see. I assume the New Horizons probe has light-sensitive cameras.
Comments
Not a quote from anything.
Just something I wrote in my post but thanks anyway.
Oh yeah?
http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/lexus-reveals-hoverboard-prototype-2015-06-24
I can't wait!
http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/News-Article.php?page=20150701-2
Movie of Pluto
See New Horizons plan return to normal on July 7
Another one here. It doesn't show the spectacular barycentric orbit but it does show a few more details.
From aboout 13 million miles:
http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/common/content/videos/dataMovies/7-3-15_Color_Rotation_Movie_NASA-JHUAPL-SWRI.gif
It's amazing how bright it is considering the vast distance between Pluto and the Sun. And that colour! How exciting!
Yes the signal takes a very long time to get here.
The Kuiper Belt. I seriously doubt I'll be alive to see a probe capture images of anything that's beyond this solar system, including the Oort Cloud. People think distances in the solar system are huge, but they're nothing compared to the distances of things outside of it, unless going at light speed, and that's for the closest things as well.
Just as well it was only a glitch.
It will be back to normal in the morning - with no impact on the flyby science.
http://www.nasa.gov/nh/new-horizons-plans-july-7-return-to-normal-science-operations
Tuesday 14 July
Not long now, fingers crossed nothing goes wrong!
Over the years I've read books saying that from Pluto the Sun just looks like a very bright star, so I wondered how much light there would be out there. Well, NASA have come up with this Pluto time calculator, which tells you when the illumination at your location - on a clear day - matches that of Pluto at noon, and it's surprisingly light, I thought: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/plutotime/
The colour is striking, too. At first glance it looks almost like Mars.
The excitement is building.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/07/150707-pluto-new-horizons-flyby-photo-space/
See How Nasa's Mission to Pluto Works
But still no hoverboard.
Thanks for the link. Pluto at noon is the same as around 10pm where I am so I'll go out tonight and see. I assume the New Horizons probe has light-sensitive cameras.
There is data coming back all the time.
...Henry that is good....