New Horizons, Only 100 days from Pluto.

[niallk]

Wonderful! Many thanks for posting

[Piero]

Thanks Laurie for posting them!

The shape of pluto is quite not spherical, as if an external object or a small moon crashed on it in the past.

Looking forward for new images!

[DRT]

Thanks Laurie for posting them!

The shape of pluto is quite not spherical, as if an external object or a small moon crashed on it in the past.

Looking forward for new images!

I was reading about that on the NASA website earlier today. Apparently the strange shape is an artefact of the heavy processing these images have been subjected to, not the result of Pluto not being spherical.

I'm looking forward to the close ups next month

[Piero]

I was reading about that on the NASA website earlier today. Apparently the strange shape is an artefact of the heavy processing these images have been subjected to, not the result of Pluto not being spherical.

I'm looking forward to the close ups next month

Interesting to know this! Well, not it is just a matter of .. days! 1 month and 1 day! 

[Highburymark]

I was reading about that on the NASA website earlier today. Apparently the strange shape is an artefact of the heavy processing these images have been subjected to, not the result of Pluto not being spherical.

I'm looking forward to the close ups next month

For those who would like Pluto to be re-categorised as a proper planet, good news that it is spherical - presumably if it were not then the debate over its status would be over?

[Laurie61]

NASA New Horizons ‏@NASANewHorizons  5h5 hours ago

Small course correction this morning to refine our path to the precise #Pluto aim point; all looks good! #PlutoFlyBy

[Tykeviewer]

If you look at the unprocessed images, it still doesn't look round ...... http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/soc/Pluto-Encounter/index.php

[Tykeviewer]

(the 100msec exposure images)

[DRT]

I can't see any 100msec images. Which page are you looking at?

[Tykeviewer]

They are the darker images (the pages change daily); here is the latest example: http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/soc/Pluto-Encounter/view_obs.php?image=data/pluto/level2/lor/jpeg/029682/lor_0296826898_0x630_sci_1.jpg&utc_time=2015-06-17<br>06:03:00 UTC&description=OpNav+Campaign+4%2C+LORRI+1X1&target=PLUTO&range=32.4M km&exposure=100 msec

[Laurie61]

May 29-June 19, Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, appear to more than double in size. From this rapidly improving imagery, scientists on the New Horizons team have found that the “close approach hemisphere” on Pluto that New Horizons will fly over has the greatest variety of terrain types seen on the planet so far. They have also discovered that Charon has a “dark pole” – a mysterious dark region that forms a kind of anti-polar cap.

The distance to Pluto ranges from 47 million kilometers (about 29 million miles) on June 5 to 31 million kilometers (19 million miles) on June 18. When various large, dark and bright regions appear near limbs, they give Pluto a distinct, but false, non-spherical appearance. 

 

http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/News-Article.php?page=20150622-3

[Laurie61]

Charon and Pluto as seen by the New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on June 19, 2015, from about 20 million miles. North is up in this image. Pluto is displaying a widely varied range of surface markings and Charon is showing a surprising, unexpected dark spot at its north pole that New Horizons discovered in June.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Very interesting stuff. The closest approach is on my eldest son Frank's birthday. He is so chuffed about that!

[DaveS]

Slightly different bundle of emotions here, as it would have been mum's 95th birthday (She made it to 92).

[jabeoo1]

How long will it be after the pass that we actually see some processed & refined image data ? 

[Dave Lloyd]

Slightly different bundle of emotions here, as it would have been mum's 95th birthday (She made it to 92).

92 is great, I'm sure she lived a full life.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

How long will it be after the pass that we actually see some processed & refined image data ? 

Not long, I suppose. These images are not huge, and they have better compute facilities at their disposal than I have

The signal delay will be more than the initial rough-and-ready-processing delay. As time passes, we will get better versions, no doubt

[DaveS]

92 is great, I'm sure she lived a full life.

She did, thanks.

Her sister made it to 95 but was wreckage by the end, mum was going the same way in the last few months so perhaps it was better thus.

Ah, well, back OT   will be very interested to see the picks of this. When I was growing up Pluto was the outermost edge of the Solar System, a sort of "Here be dragons" sort of place. Now we're getting pics 

[Piero]

Great images! This exploration is getting more and more interesting!

If I remember correctly it takes about 4h and a half for transmitted data to reach earth. For receiving the full set of images will take about one year. And there are components which can either take images or send data only.

The big problem with this exploration is that a lot of things have been discovered during the travel. It is a big concern whether Pluto has a ring system or small rocks rotating which could interfere with new horizons orbit. For this reason, they plan to send back to earth a set of images before the critical passage near the planet in case new horizons collides with some of these objects. After this there won't be any communication for all the critical passage where the satellite will just take images. This because potential correction from earth would be useless and would waste time for images.

If everything went OK, we should start receiving new images after the passage.

Let's cross our fingers!

[beamer3.6m]

How close will it fly in terms of imaging. I.e. will we see images like we have of saturn or jupiter or mars upclose.

So far they all look pretty unexciting (other than the fact it is pluto).

[Piero]

How close will it fly in terms of imaging. I.e. will we see images like we have of saturn or jupiter or mars upclose.

So far they all look pretty unexciting (other than the fact it is pluto).

High priority to Pluto, Charon and Nix, some other pictures to the other satellites too.

I would say 'pretty close' as this picture from Sky & Telescope shows : 

[Macavity]

The recent images are (to me anyway) already stunning! I would hate (love!)

to be one of the people selecting the imaging targets on this one...

Now "getting on a bit", perhaps it will be my last, great "solar system epic"?

I wish someone had strapped a "box brownie" to the Galileo Jupiter probe! 

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

High priority to Pluto, Charon and Nix, some other pictures to the other satellites too.

I would say 'pretty close' as this picture from Sky & Telescope shows : 

Interesting diagram. The highest resolution images should be awesome in terms of detail

[DRT]

That is the best diagram I have seen of this event and it gives us a great idea of what to expect.

Presumably Pluto and the Moons will very quickly go into phase and mostly be invisible as soon as NH goes behind the orbital plane?

[Naf]

14 days to the closest approach of New Horizons(Australian eastern standard time). It's nearly party time, clear skies.