Posted on 10/27/2015 3:43:51 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Explanation: What do the moons of Pluto look like? Before a decade ago, only the largest moon Charon was known, but never imaged. As the robotic New Horizons spacecraft was prepared and launched, other moons were identified on Hubble images but remained only specks of light. Finally, this past summer, New Horizons swept right past Pluto, photographed Pluto and Charon in detail, and took the best images of Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra that it could. The featured image composite shows the results -- each moon is seen to have a distinct shape, while underlying complexity is only hinted. Even though not satisfyingly resolved, these images are likely to be the best available to humanity for some time. This is because the moons are too small and distant for contemporary Earth-based telescopes to resolve, and no new missions to the Pluto system are planned.
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
[Credit and Copyright: NASA, Johns Hopkins U. APL, SwRI]
|
Nix looks suspiciously like an Idaho potato. A 10 mile wide potato, but a potato none the less.
What is two rockers, a Windows authentication, and GI Joe’s enemy?
Nah.
Kurberos is what happens when a civil engineer goes on-line to find exotic photos of concrete sidewalks and handicapped access ramps.
It’s little known, but most of the meteorites that have arrived on Earth are bacon sprinkles from the area near Pluto.
:’)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.