Posted on 07/14/2015 8:41:14 AM PDT by Pluto is NOT a Planet
The first age of solar system exploration is in the books. Related Stories NASA's New Horizons probe flew by Pluto this morning (July 14), capturing history's first up-close looks at the far-flung world if all went according to plan. (Mission team members won't declare success until they hear from New Horizons tonight.) Closest approach came at 7:49 a.m. EDT (1149 GMT), when the spacecraft whizzed within 7,800 miles (12,500 kilometers) of Pluto's frigid surface.
More at link
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Pluto.
Dwarf.
Launched from Florida.
This has Disney written all over it...
too bad they’ll never know what those black spots are since they’re on the other side now.
Epic!
Did you notice how the black spots were all huddled together, segregated from the rest of the lightly colored planet.
That’s right... Pluto is a huge racist.
Yeah, I said it.
They said that they had timed the flyby for when Pluto's biggest moon was in a position where it could reflect some light so as to illuminate the night side. How much light? Not much. We will see if we got anything somewhere in the next few months as they download all the data and images.
“Mickey Mouse’s dog is gay???” /obscure
Looking forward to seeing the pics which are supposed to be released today.
Hope it doesn’t take them too long to erase the alien bases...
Given Pluto's mean distance of 39 A.U. from the Sun, Pluto receives only about 1500th (1 / 39 squared) as much light per square centimeter as the Earth (with is, by definition, 1 A.U. from the Sun). Nevertheless, the Sun is still much, much more than just a "bright star" as seen from Pluto. In fact, it would outclass every other celestial body in Pluto's sky. Even at aphelion (i.e., when farthest from the Sun, at a distance of 7.3 billion km), the Sun in Pluto's sky is still 150 times brighter than the Earth's full Moon as viewed from the Earth.
As far as the camera on board New Horizons - it is capable of discerning details on the NIGHT-side of Pluto lit only by sunlight reflected from Charon.
Regards,
New Horizons instrumentation.
LORRI Long range reconnaissance imager telescopic camera. It provides high res geologic images.
RALPH Visible and infrared imager/spectrometer provides color composition and thermal maps
ALICE ultraviolet imaging spectrometer analyzes Pluto’s atmospheric structure
REX radio science experiment measures atmospheric composition and temperature. Passive radiometer.
If Charon is reflective, i.e. white, that amount of light should be significant to show Pluto night side details, given the sensitivity of the detectors this probe is carrying.
Do you know what they call a traffic jamb in watts ? A blood clot
Fleas?
LOL! There’s actually some truth to that!
You forgot to mention the dozen Sylvania Blue Dot flashbulbs the New Horizons is carrying to use at the fly by. Of course not many people know this. :)
And how soon will 0bama make a press announcement claiming credit?
I read a disgusting article this morning that had a line it to the effect of: “Exploration of the planets started with Kennedy, and now is completed under President Obama.”
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