New Horizons takes our first ever half-decent image of Pluto, prepares for flyby - Polidicks

[QUOTE=Cows Rule;48188032]I know, but it kinda irked me though that the image was comparing diameter to area because they aren't the same. They're related, but not the same.[/QUOTE] He wasn't though? He was comparing the diameter of Pluto and Charon to the width of USA

[QUOTE=Jodern;48188135]He wasn't though? He was comparing the diameter of Pluto and Charon to the width of USA[/QUOTE] Was he? I thought it was a comparison of area. I'll stop then.

gonna bump this with ABC's Now Horizons article, it's being updated every now and then, plus it has a cool slider thing: [url]http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-09/pluto-comes-into-focus/6566818[/url]

[QUOTE=Darth_Toast;48169751][IMG]https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/full_width/public/thumbnails/image/mh-07-10-15_puto_image_annotated.jpg?itok=I9S37lI5[/IMG] [IMG]https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/full_width/public/thumbnails/image/nh-michael_soluri_team_7-10-15.jpg?itok=cyq1K4uJ[/IMG] [editline]10th July 2015[/editline] [url]https://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-image-of-pluto-houston-we-have-geology[/url][/QUOTE] Soon, the probe will be will close enough to discover that the "complex patterns" are a written message: "MISSING TEXTURE." And that is how humanity discovers it is nothing but a crude simulation for an alien child's science project.

[QUOTE=Darth_Toast;48169751][IMG]https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/full_width/public/thumbnails/image/mh-07-10-15_puto_image_annotated.jpg?itok=I9S37lI5[/IMG] [/QUOTE] The aliens have spoken. They have said WU い Hu¾ '.

[QUOTE=Nebukadnezzer;48164974]would the techniques used to create the hubble deep field not work for getting a high res photo of pluto from earth?[/QUOTE] You're equating taking a photo of an object smaller than our moon to taking a photo of a region of space wider than our own galaxy.

Heres a couple of cool tidbits: DSN Now: A website showing a live version of the Deep Space Network, currently all of Goldstone's dishes are dedicated to New Horizons: [url]http://eyes.nasa.gov/dsn/dsn.html[/url] NASA's Eyes: a program that can simulate a "live" version of the New Horizons flyby. it's pretty cool seeing how it'll collect data. it can also be used to show the journey of probes from the past and the present: [url]http://eyes.nasa.gov/[/url]

[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;48191233]Soon, the probe will be will close enough to discover that the "complex patterns" are a written message: "MISSING TEXTURE." And that is how humanity discovers it is nothing but a crude simulation for an alien child's science project.[/QUOTE] A similar event occurred when humanity reached the surface of the moon faster than the simulation's creator anticipated, and an unfinished section of terrain was discovered. the massive glowing red 'ERROR' signs on a field of purple-black checkerboard were extensively photographed, but as soon as the creator returned from microwaving his alien Hot-Pocket, he deleted the data and distracted the human population with invented stories of a falsified broadcast. his latest blog update: fuckkk didnt think the glorblings would reach that last flarblet so fast! lmao gonna be pullin another all-nlarber with the LOD maps

[QUOTE=Whomobile;48191585]Heres a couple of cool tidbits: DSN Now: A website showing a live version of the Deep Space Network, currently all of Goldstone's dishes are dedicated to New Horizons: [url]http://eyes.nasa.gov/dsn/dsn.html[/url] NASA's Eyes: a program that can simulate a "live" version of the New Horizons flyby. it's pretty cool seeing how it'll collect data. it can also be used to show the journey of probes from the past and the present: [url]http://eyes.nasa.gov/[/url][/QUOTE] I've been watching it for about a week now. If only ' >>>>>> ' existed. [IMG]http://scontent-lax1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/t31.0-8/11032729_10153097873832017_3153786815098434460_o.jpg[/IMG]

pluto is a cutie :3

[QUOTE=redBadger;48160456]Fucks sake it's baffling we can still get these images from a device that is lightyears away.[/QUOTE] Still doesn't explain why I can't get cellphone reception in my home.

New Horizons just shot the best photo it can get of the far side. [IMG]http://i.space.com/images/i/000/048/778/i02/new-horizons-pluto-dark-spots.jpg?1436681640[/IMG] That's the last we'll see of the far side of Pluto for a long, long time.

Closest approach happens Wed around 5 PST right?

[QUOTE=FlandersNed;48192070]That's the last we'll see of the far side of Pluto for a long, long time.[/QUOTE] I demand we launch New Horizons 2.0 now.

[QUOTE=Kyle902;48187008]If the moon can't hold on atmosphere what makes you think something less then half the size of the moon is going to have clouds.[/QUOTE] Pluto is significantly more distant from the sun than the moon is; solar wind will [I]slowly[/I] strip an atmosphere away from a body (and I do mean very slowly) and that stripping power is only going to drop with distance. I expect if Pluto and the moon both started with an atmosphere that the moon's would be stripped away far sooner.

Latest images: (these are from the 12th) [t]https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/071215_pluto_alone_0.png[/t] [t]https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/pluto-annotated.jpg[/t] [t]https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/071215_charon_alone.png[/t] [t]https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/charon_annotated.jpg[/t] [editline]13th July 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=Mbbird;48192086]Closest approach happens Wed around 5 PST right?[/QUOTE] 24 hours from this post, almost exactly [editline]13th July 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=Kyle902;48187008]If the moon can't hold on atmosphere what makes you think something less then half the size of the moon is going to have clouds.[/QUOTE] Titan has an atmosphere 1.4x greater than the earth, but its not even 2x the mass of the moon so you never really know.

[QUOTE=Pelf;48193193]Titan has an atmosphere 1.4x greater than the earth, but its not even 2x the mass of the moon so you never really know.[/QUOTE] Temperature of the atmosphere play a huge role. Higher temperature (and by extension proximity to the sun) means the particles in the gases have more energy, which means it's easier for those particles to escape the planet/moon/dwarf-planet.

[QUOTE=DChapsfield;48157415]i don't know, but wouldn't that be like trying to orbit a grain of sand in a cyclone?[/QUOTE] If we can send a satellite into space and let it fly around and gravity boost multiple times for 12 years and then have it perfectly line up with a comet which is vastly smaller than Pluto, then I'm pretty sure sending one to orbit Pluto would be a cakewalk in comparison.

[QUOTE=Lord Fear;48193328]If we can send a satellite into space and let it fly around and gravity boost multiple times for 12 years and then have it perfectly line up with a comet which is vastly smaller than Pluto, then I'm pretty sure sending one to orbit Pluto would be a cakewalk in comparison.[/QUOTE] The problem with getting to Pluto is that it's [I]really[/I] far away. To get there in a reasonable amount of time, New Horizons was launched with a lot of velocity, and when it reaches Pluto it will still be moving extremely fast relative to the dwarf-planet. It simply does not have enough fuel onboard to slow itself down to orbital velocity. Rosetta was different, partly because the comet was actually much closer than Pluto, but also because using the gravitational slingshots of other planets, it was possible to get the probe orbit in such a way that once it reached the comet, their relative velocities were small enough that it didn't need a truckload of fuel to slow down and orbit.

[QUOTE=LarparNar;48193355]The problem with getting to Pluto is that it's [I]really[/I] far away. To get there in a reasonable amount of time, New Horizons was launched with a lot of velocity, and when it reaches Pluto it will still be moving extremely fast relative to the dwarf-planet. It simply does not have enough fuel onboard to slow itself down to orbital velocity. Rosetta was different, partly because the comet was actually much closer than Pluto, but also because using the gravitational slingshots of other planets, it was possible to get the probe orbit in such a way that once it reached the comet, their relative velocities were small enough that it didn't need a truckload of fuel to slow down and orbit.[/QUOTE] My statemstatement was more pointing out that the small size of Pluto is not an issue since he referred to it as a grain of sand. I don't know the orbital velocity of Pluto, but wouldn't it be easier to put a potential satellite in and orbit around the sun that follows Pluto like they do with Rosetta? As then you (presumably) can keep a greater speed and still keep close to it.

Might want to do some reading on orbital physics. News outlets do a really piss poor job of visualizing things for readers, usually because the writers themselved have no mental image at all.

Turns out Pluto is a big guy for us, 69km bigger than we thought [url]http://www.space.com/29924-pluto-larger-than-thought-nasa-flyby.html[/url]

[QUOTE=smurfy;48197054]Turns out Pluto is a big guy for us, 69km bigger than we thought [url]http://www.space.com/29924-pluto-larger-than-thought-nasa-flyby.html[/url][/QUOTE] It's kind of interesting how close in size Pluto and Eris actually are. With the new calculations indicating that Pluto is larger than previously thought and the occultation of Eris indicating it was significantly smaller than previously suspected, Pluto ends up being 44km wider than Eris. However, like how Uranus has a larger diameter than Neptune, yet Neptune is more massive, Eris is still more massive than Pluto due to being denser.

[QUOTE=Cmx;48160278]Pluto identifies as a transplanet, please refrain from calling it a planet as it is triggering. I always thought it would be a giant white ball of ice, not brown at all.[/QUOTE] Pluto's one dirty little iceball, that's for sure.

Does this look like something from a 1950s scifi TV show to anyone else? [img]http://imgkk.com/i/gf2x.png[/img]

Oh dear... [img]http://i.imgur.com/XDvDtU3.png[/img]

Wikipedia says 8 hours left until closest approach. When will the approach occur? Times: Eastern US: 7:50 AM Pacific US: 4:50 AM London: 12:50 PM Berlin: 1:50 PM Moscow: 2:50 PM China: 7:50 PM Tokyo: 8:50 PM Melbourne: 9:50 PM

[QUOTE=FlandersNed;48200449]Oh dear... [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/XDvDtU3.png[/IMG][/QUOTE] No fucking way. [QUOTE='[Seed Eater];48200543']Wikipedia says 8 hours left until closest approach. When will the approach occur? Times: Eastern US: 7:50 AM Pacific US: 4:50 AM London: 12:50 PM Berlin: 1:50 PM Moscow: 2:50 PM China: 7:50 PM Tokyo: 8:50 PM Melbourne: 9:50 PM[/QUOTE] It's one minute before that.

2 Hours until closest flyby.

New Horizons is now about 82,000km out, or about a quarter of the distance from the Earth to the moon.