Full Plutonian day (quick GIF, Pluto)

http://reddit.com/r/space/comments/3bvlz0/full_plutonian_day/ ^ | Unknown NASA copied by someone onto reddit

[LibWhacker]

Still eight million miles to go. Flyby is July 14.

[wastedyears]

When I was a kid, Pluto was still a planet.

[Telepathic Intruder]

A big snowball. Bigger than a comet, smaller than a planet.

[dr_lew]

It’s a thrill to watch that animation ... and more to come!

[dr_lew]

When I was a kid, Pluto was still a planet.

A "planet" is a "wandering star", the name being based of course on a subjective impression, just as "asteroid," meaning "a starlike object" is a subjective term, although in this case the name was given in specific reference to the observational circumstances, and was not a naive objectification, as was "wandering star".

Curiously, we may note that the original apellation is most appropriate to Pluto under our objective understanding of the physical circumstances of its distant and eccentric orbit.

[from occupied ga]

Looks kind of goofy to me.

[Prospero]

[Politicalkiddo]

Looks like it has a large lump.

[Netz]

Looks irregular and very rocky, not a “blue marble” at all...at the rate NASA is going we will arrive there in 4678...

[Vaquero]

6 earth days make one Plutonian day. So the video presented shows a view of Pluto from the New Horizon which is closing at 30,000 mph. Or 660,000 MPD.... Or around 4 million miles approach to cover a full day on Pluto. Which means the clarity of the video is considerably sharper at the end of the day.

[Vaquero]

Shame it would has been a much bigger undertaking to supply the craft with enough fuel to allow New Horizons to slow itself into orbit....the craft may pick up speed as it slingshots around Pluto and out into Intersteller space.

[martin_fierro]

Yeah, I wish I could’ve hung around out there for a few years, like Cassini at Saturn.

[BenLurkin]

Very interesting!

[Drew68]

Shame it would has been a much bigger undertaking to supply the craft with enough fuel to allow New Horizons to slow itself into orbit....the craft may pick up speed as it slingshots around Pluto and out into Intersteller space.

Yep. I have a feeling that the type of clear, detailed photos that other probes have given us of Jupiter, Saturn and their moons isn't going to happen with Pluto. The fly-by is going to be quick, only about 2 hours, and then off to who knows where. After Pluto, the next Transneptunians that New Horizons might encounter are rocks only a few dozen miles across and a billion miles away,

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks LibWhacker, extra to APoD.

[cripplecreek]

The Joke is that Thomas Jefferson missed his chance to send a probe to Pluto last time the planets were aligned for it.

[Vaquero]

After Pluto, the next Transneptunians that New Horizons might encounter are rocks only a few dozen miles across and a billion miles away,

they will be visiting the Kuiper Beltway then then into the land of the Oort Cloudashians. and eventually to the good folks of Aldebaran in 4 million years....

[lbryce]

Thank you Libwhacker for the wonderful updats