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New Horizons, Only 100 days from Pluto.


Laurie61

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This is the best image taken so far. Charon and Pluto. Amazing! Fine details are really emerging every day, and not just for Pluto. 

All of this is so exciting!  :rolleyes:  :rolleyes:  :rolleyes:  :rolleyes:  :rolleyes:  :rolleyes:  :rolleyes:

Source: http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/Multimedia/Science-Photos/image.php?page=1&gallery_id=2&image_id=209

pluto_charon_150709_color_final.png

Very exciting indeed, I had my doubts looking at the earlier pictures but they are coming good. You could almost be excused for thinking there may be an atmosphere there, looking forward to next week

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Really enjoying the build up; here's a very enjoyable doc on YouTube about Voyager in case anyone interested - I hadn't seen before.

Isn't the internet wonderful? I watched various SOHO streams in near real time on my phone when comet Ison went through perihelion - the anticipation of what we might see of Pluto and Charon brings me back to the fascination I had when I was a small boy...

When one sees the pics of Jupiter from Voyager - and in them the features we can experience first hand with our telescopes from a back garden... Amazing really :)

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This picture was released yesterday along with an article named "Houston, we have geology".

The image is at a resolution of 17km per pixel. Just imagine what we will see at 100m per pixel newt week! :smile:

post-33858-0-08535600-1436590708_thumb.p

Perhaps the very dark area around the equator explains why lots of the pictures taken a few weeks ago did not appear to be a sphere?

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The Sky & Telescopes write up in this month on the mission is impressive.  The details are amazing....Grab a copy.  Unfortuantely I am in no way affilated with the publication ! If only :)

A thumbs up for the coverage in Astronomy Now this month too

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Here is the latest picture...

post-33858-0-39378300-1436683488.png

http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/News-Article.php?page=20150711-2

Lots more detail starting to appear and some very interesting features.

The article has a link to a very interesting NASA App - http://eyes.jpl.nasa.gov/eyes-on-pluto.html

Download the app (Mac only) to see what will actually happen over the next few days. Once the app launches hit the preview button (top left) and then crank the time rate (bottom centre) up to 30min/sec. You will see New Horizons spinning around to point its instruments at various objects in the Pluto system during the approach. When it points to Earth it is presumably sending back data. When the counter (bottom left) gets close to nearest approach slow the rate down to 1m/sec for a good look at what New Horizons is doing in that critical hour as it passes through the Pluto system. Less than an hour later it is pointed at Earth for a prolonged period. A few hours after that we should see the first picture from closest approach.

Very cool :cool2:

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Annoying object! Why can't it look similar in two successive images? That one looks like the kind of thing the solar boys are posting here

Exciting, if a bit frustrating, times

Richard

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I think it looks similar to Io; but why would it have volcanoes? Was it also tidally squished in a prior orbit around a massive planet?

It is fascinating to see the pictures evolve and listen to the theories.

JD
 

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Looks like liquid flowing from the dark equatorial features (lakes?) towards the semi-circular, crater type features.

Or is it the other way round?

One thing looks certain, we will have more questions about Pluto after the flypast than ever before!

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