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Πέμπτη 13 Αυγούστου 2015

Seeing Pluto in a New Light 2015-07-15 New Horizons Pluto Flyby Mission ...

    

Seeing Pluto in a New Light 2015-07-15 New Horizons Pluto Flyby Mission ...



Δημοσιεύτηκε στις 15 Ιουλ 2015
more at http://scitech.quickfound.net/astro/p...

July
15th Pluto flyby day live press conference on the New Horizons mission,
featuring the first high resolution photos of Pluto and Charon. From
the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel,
Maryland, site of the Mission Operations Center.

Public domain film from NASA.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Hor...

New
Horizons is an interplanetary space probe that was launched as part of
NASA's New Frontiers program. Built by the Applied Physics Laboratory
and the Southwest Research Institute, with a team led by S. Alan Stern,
the spacecraft was launched to study Pluto, its moons and the Kuiper
Belt, performing flybys of the Pluto system and one or more Kuiper Belt
Objects (KBOs)...

...On January 15, 2015, the New Horizons
spacecraft began its approach phase to Pluto, which will result in the
first ever flyby of Pluto on July 14, 2015...

The close encounter

New
Horizons is intended to pass within 12,500 km (7,800 mi) of Pluto, with
this closest approach date estimated to occur on July 14, 2015 at 11:50
UTC. New Horizons will have a relative velocity of 13.78 km/s (49,600
km/h; 30,800 mph) at its closest approach, and will come as close as
28,800 km (17,900 mi) to Charon, although these parameters may be
changed during flight. Starting 3.2 days before the closest approach,
long-range imaging will include the mapping of Pluto and Charon to 40 km
(25 mi) resolution. This is half the rotation period of the
Pluto–Charon system and will allow imaging of all sides of both bodies.
Coverage will repeat twice per day, to search for changes due to snows
or cryovolcanism. Due to Pluto's tilt, a portion of the northern
hemisphere will be in shadow at all times. During the flyby, LORRI
should be able to obtain select images with resolution as high as 50
m/px (if closest distance is around 12,500 km), and MVIC should obtain
four-color global dayside maps at 1.6 km resolution. LORRI and MVIC will
attempt to overlap their respective coverage areas to form stereo
pairs. LEISA will obtain hyperspectral near-infrared maps at 7 km/px
globally and 0.6 km/pixel for selected areas.

Meanwhile, Alice
will characterize the atmosphere, both by emissions of atmospheric
molecules (airglow), and by dimming of background stars as they pass
behind Pluto (occultation). During and after closest approach, SWAP and
PEPSSI will sample the high atmosphere and its effects on the solar
wind. VBSDC will search for dust, inferring meteoroid collision rates
and any invisible rings. REX will perform active and passive radio
science. Ground stations on Earth will transmit a powerful radio signal
as New Horizons passes behind Pluto's disk, then emerges on the other
side. The communications dish will measure the disappearance and
reappearance of the radio occultation signal. The results will resolve
Pluto's diameter (by their timing) and atmospheric density and
composition (by their weakening and strengthening pattern). (Alice can
perform similar occultations, using sunlight instead of radio
beacons.)...

Reflected sunlight from Charon will allow some
imaging observations of the nightside. Backlighting by the Sun will
highlight any rings or atmospheric hazes. REX will perform radiometry of
the nightside.

Lesser satellite observations

New
Horizons‍ '​ best spatial resolution of the small satellites is
460m/pixel at Nix, 1.1 km/pixel at Hydra, 3.2 km/pixel at Kerberos, and
3.2 km/pixel at Styx..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto

Pluto
(minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is the second-most massive
known dwarf planet, after the scattered-disc object Eris. It is probably
the largest object in the Kuiper belt and possibly the largest known
trans-Neptunian object by volume. It is the tenth-most-massive known
body directly orbiting the Sun. Like other Kuiper belt objects, Pluto is
primarily made of rock and ice and is relatively small—about one-sixth
the mass of the Moon and one-third its volume. It has a moderately
eccentric and inclined orbit that takes it from 30 to 49 astronomical
units (4.4–7.4 billion km) from the Sun. This means that Pluto
periodically comes closer to the Sun than Neptune...

Pluto was
discovered in 1930 and was originally considered the ninth planet from
the Sun. Its status as a planet fell into question in 1992 following the
discovery of 1992 QB1, the first identified Kuiper belt object.
Numerous other Kuiper belt objects were subsequently discovered beyond
Neptune. The knowledge that Pluto is only one of several large icy
bodies in the outer Solar System prompted many in the astronomical
community to conclude that it should be reclassified as one of those
objects...

Pluto has five known moons: Charon (the largest, with a
diameter just over half that of Pluto), Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and
Hydra...

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