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Update on New Horizions, (Pluto Encounter).

by tagiscom
93 replies
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Ok, went to have a look, only 181,000,000 miles away, (more or less) and it has already taken one image!

Obviously not much, but each month the images will get more and more impressive!

Hopefully they will find an enormous black monolith orbiting Pluto, but that would be hoping for too much!

Here is the official site, if you want to bookmark it!

New Horizons

First time we will see it in detail, this is like Voyager all over again, although back then, seeing Star Wars and saving up for the latest Atari 2600 game was pretty high up as well!

  • Profile picture of the author WalkingCarpet
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    Problem is Pluto is so far away taking visible light images would be mighty hard. The Sun would be no brighter than Venus is to Earth.

    So don't expect to see Pluto as a human would see it. Would be mostly infrared and UV and RADAR images.
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    • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
      Originally Posted by WalkingCarpet View Post

      Problem is Pluto is so far away taking visible light images would be mighty hard. The Sun would be no brighter than Venus is to Earth.

      So don't expect to see Pluto as a human would see it. Would be mostly infrared and UV and RADAR images.
      Hmmm, the imaging team with Voyager and Neptune and its moons did a pretty good job with the imaging, so l wouldn't say that!

      And remember this one is 25 years more advanced, (that is if l am right that Voyager 1 was launched it 1977) so, no, l do expect drool worthy images!

      More of an issue is last minute course corrections and compensating for blur motion.

      Don't want a 12 year mission to end, because a small rouge moon gets in the way?

      This thing is traveling at 15,000 km's a second, with virtually no brakes, so if they try for a close flyby, and a faint ring system is found, the probe could take a hammering?

      Time will tell!

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  • Profile picture of the author WalkingCarpet
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    Page not found they say. Imagine if they had Aussies in their New Horizons engineering team. Planet not Found, it'll say.
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    • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
      Originally Posted by WalkingCarpet View Post

      Page not found they say. Imagine if they had Aussies in their New Horizons engineering team. Planet not Found, it'll say.
      Damn,it, and l didn't even touch the red stuff!

      Here you go, and thanks for the heads up!

      New Horizons
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      • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
        I just read about it today, apparently it will take HD images, (in visible light) with very high resolutions, so they will be in droolworthy levels!

        Remember that Voyager had one pixel to what this probe has, which was 32,000.

        Which means Voyager can image an active geyser, and this baby can take a high res image of the built up ground around it!

        Can't wait!

        Hubble has pinpointed a Kyper Belt object as well, which Horizons will be headed towards next, although l expect one or more of these to be in Pluto's gravity.

        Hopefully not to far away for study!

        A bit like tasting the icing before the cake arrives!

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        • Profile picture of the author WalkingCarpet
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          Originally Posted by tagiscom View Post

          I just read about it today, apparently it will take HD images, (in visible light) with very high resolutions, so they will be in droolworthy levels!

          Remember that Voyager had one pixel to what this probe has, which was 32,000.

          Which means Voyager can image an active geyser, and this baby can take a high res image of the built up ground around it!

          Can't wait!

          Hubble has pinpointed a Kyper Belt object as well, which Horizons will be headed towards next, although l expect one or more of these to be in Pluto's gravity.

          Hopefully not to far away for study!

          A bit like tasting the icing before the cake arrives!
          I bet my iPhone can do better.
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          • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
            Originally Posted by WalkingCarpet View Post

            I bet my iPhone can do better.
            Arrrm, you were close, apparently Voyager is like a PC, and New Horizons computer is like an iPad, by comparison.

            And the thermoelectric nuclear generator was a leftover from other space probes back then, around the year 2000.

            It generates 200 volts, when used. So it almost has access to mains power, 4 billion miles away, and can make its own decisions regarding target imaging,s, etc.

            It has to since it takes light or a radio signal 4 hours to reach it!

            But unlike Voyager which can only do one thing at a time, this one can do several, as well as having a generous solid state memory.

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          • Profile picture of the author seasoned
            Originally Posted by WalkingCarpet View Post

            I bet my iPhone can do better.
            Why don't you do that! If you could do that, you could become a billionare and start a huge company, etc....

            WOW! HOW do you get an iphone HERE to take better shots than say an old kodak up there? NEAT TRICK!

            And it IS an unwritten law that anything we have sent, that is around pluto is VERY antiquated, just by virtue of how long it takes to get there. ALSO, they have to plan everything out, so most technology dates back probably NOT to when it was launched, but from when they first designed the vehicle. Picture, processing, and storage are among the things that have evolved a LOT since the early seventies! HECK, they evolved a lot in even the past 5-10 years.

            Steve
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            • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
              An update l missed, (there are others) but this shows Pluto and its biggest moon visually, about 2 months ago! Please scroll down for a closeup look.

              The elliptical orbit and wobble is clearly visible!

              New Horizons

              Unfortunately recent updates are few and far between, probably saving up New Horizons for the grand finale, in about 3 months time!

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              • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
                Another update, this one is a closeup of Pluto and its, moon.

                Still blurry, but the best color image ever taken.

                New Horizons

                Hubble can distinguish between light and dark but that is about it.

                There might be yellow in the middle and white around that, maybe Pluto is similar to Ganimede, which was a moon around one of the gas giants, and has a white, cracked appearance.

                Scientists speculate that there could be oceans on either one, but it would be too cold on the surface, unless the interior is heated?

                New Horizons, will store 100 times what it can send us during closest approach, and we will get surface details a few miles across over the next 16 months.

                So three months of drooling, followed by being blown away and then spoilt rotten for a few years after that, (it is headed towards a cyper belt object after Pluto).

                This is like the 70's with Voyager again, cool!

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  • Profile picture of the author David Beroff
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    • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
      Originally Posted by David Beroff View Post

      New Horizons - YouTube
      Thanks David, some of the best computer graphics l have ever seen, outside of motion pictures!

      Yes, less than a month, before we will be blown away!

      We will probably see at least one Kyper belt object or moon around Pluto, but it will be until 2018-20 before we get a close up of one!

      I will be surprised if Pluto or its moon doesn't have active geysers on its surface, and a black monolith, he, he!



      PS latest mars pic...

      https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...LEANED%201.zip
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  • Profile picture of the author Zodiax
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    • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
      Ok, Pluto in color, at reasonably good res, and the anomalies are real, and not clouds!

      New Horizons

      Looks like Pluto may have been hit or broke apart and sliced back together in its past?

      Either way we will see closeups of this strange anomaly in the next week!

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      • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
        New Horizons

        This should make Claudes day, there is a donut shape on Pluto!!!!

        And a whale apparently?

        We will see a closeup of the bright area in about a week!

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        • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
          New Horizons

          The show has officially begun.....

          5 days to go!

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          • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
            4 days to go and Pluto as well as its moon are becoming real worlds in their own rights!

            New Horizons

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            • Profile picture of the author Zodiax
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              • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
                Even with all the nonsense, this is an important event.

                Shane; Thanks for bringing this up, and posting a link. I really am looking forward to this close flyby.
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                • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
                  Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

                  Even with all the nonsense, this is an important event.

                  Shane; Thanks for bringing this up, and posting a link. I really am looking forward to this close flyby.
                  I agree Claude, for the first time in recorded history humanity has a front row seat to see a planet that has been a speck of light for the most part, and until very recently a pixulated sphere of light and dark patches!

                  But l don't understand why Zodiax keeps posting Stargate videos? Maybe he can explain the relevance to us?


                  Most surprisingly is Charon, looks seriously like our moon, but it will probably be too far away for droolworthy pic's?

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                  • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
                    Another day another pic!

                    New Horizons

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                    • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
                      In less than 20 hours, we'll pass Pluto. This is history in the making.
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                      • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
                        Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

                        In less than 20 hours, we'll pass Pluto. This is history in the making.
                        Yes, it will pass Pluto, beam back a very small portion of what it got, and it will be hours past Pluto by the time we get it!

                        But it will pass the shadow areas of Pluto and Charon, so we will eventually get back stunning images of the main Pluto system bodies, with the sun behind them!

                        Then we will get back a steady trickle of what it saw, for the next 18 months, (if l remember correctly) then it will pass a cyper belt object, a few months after it finally transmits the last of it.

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                        • Profile picture of the author BigFrank
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                          I had no idea that Pluto wasn't discovered until 1930. As a child I was planet crazed. Maybe I knew it and forgot I knew it. :-(

                          Cheers. - Frank
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                          • Profile picture of the author David Beroff
                            Originally Posted by BigFrank View Post

                            ...Pluto wasn't discovered until 1930.
                            And then demoted to "dwarf planet" in 2006. Gee, that didn't last very long.
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                            • Profile picture of the author Zodiax
                              I posted those Stargate things because I think this obsession with planets and advanced lifeforms is hilarious.

                              We are so hopeless on this planet that we desperately want to escape, and hope that some alien lifeform will come and transmit magic technology to fix all of our woes.

                              If we don't kill ourselves on THIS planet, than we will certainly do something stupid and kill ourselves in space.

                              If the asgardians are coming they better come soon, because at this rate, we don't even have 100 years...
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                              • Profile picture of the author David Beroff
                                Originally Posted by Zodiax View Post

                                We are so hopeless on this planet that we desperately want to escape, and hope that some alien lifeform will come and transmit magic technology to fix all of our woes.
                                Not all of us want to escape. As incredibly alluring as space travel may seem, I have a lot of personal concerns with pragmatic things like muscle atrophy, radiation dangers, and micrometeorites puncturing whatever protection that may be afforded by spaceships and spacesuits. On the other hand, I'm not looking to dissuade anyone else who is willing to face such dangers head on.

                                But escape doesn't have to be the only goal. I do support basic learning. Research into space has yielded a lot of knowledge and benefits, and perhaps we can find some solutions to some of these messes that we've collectively gotten ourselves into.

                                There's also wonder and awe, the appreciation of nature. While harder to concretely specify, (and yes, justify financially), there's still much merit there, as well.
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                            • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
                              New Horizons

                              Yes, 8 hours to go!

                              Which means we will get the first close up images of Pluto at about 1am, (my time)!

                              I will post then, unless someone else beats me to it, he, he!

                              So, much for some silly person saying about 15 or more years ago, that we wouldn't see closeups of Pluto within our lifetimes!

                              Pretty sure that it was the commentator on the Planets tv series, that said it, (this series mainly covered Voyager).


                              But l forgive him, he, he!

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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    An hour and a half to go. Just look at that geography! I so wish this thing was going to land. At least they'll be able to do some high resolutions of pics from the closest point. I really want to see close ups of the southern hemisphere of that planet. Well, I still think of it as a planet. Maybe now that they know it's bigger than they thought, they'll change it's designation again so Jim is Staying Up Nights Planning again instead of just Staying Up Nights.
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    • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
      Originally Posted by HeySal View Post

      An hour and a half to go. Just look at that geography! I so wish this thing was going to land. At least they'll be able to do some high resolutions of pics from the closest point. I really want to see close ups of the southern hemisphere of that planet. Well, I still think of it as a planet. Maybe now that they know it's bigger than they thought, they'll change it's designation again so Jim is Staying Up Nights Planning again instead of just Staying Up Nights.
      Yes, about 40 minutes til is whizzes past Pluto's surface and all of its instruments go into overdrive!

      Yes, Sal l agree, if this thing went past the earth, and was above New York, then it could clearly make out ships in the harbor.

      But don't forget Charon, so far scientists or planetary geologists think that they can see canyon's there that make the Grand canyon, look small by comparison!

      Might even beat Mars one, which is a few km's deep at some points!

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  • Profile picture of the author Synnuh
    Here's an amateur blog a buddy owns on space stuff: Universe Today – Space and Astronomy News
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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    All that time to get there and 2.5 minutes for photos. It's a shame that with all our technology we're still tied to the speed limits.

    Still - I am so glad I live in an era when we have the capability of finding out so much about the universe we live in. What a truly amazing place it is. Can you imagine what we could do if all groups/races/countries, etc would lay down their guns and put all efforts and money into science for the benefit of everyone?
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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    Did Disney know something that we don't?



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  • Profile picture of the author David Beroff
    OK, I have a question, and I'm too lazy to look this up. Considering the incredible speed that New Horizons was traveling through the system, how fast a shutter speed was needed to take such sharp, detailed (still) pictures, and how was this even done, given the incredibly faint amount of light available there?

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    • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
      Originally Posted by David Beroff View Post

      OK, I have a question, and I'm too lazy to look this up. Considering the incredible speed that New Horizons was traveling through the system, how fast a shutter speed was needed to take such sharp, detailed (still) pictures, and how was this even done, given the incredibly faint amount of light available there?
      Probably the HD image chip they used for imaging, (without looking it up) and the fact that they panned the spacecraft to compensate for motion blurr!

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    • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
      Originally Posted by David Beroff View Post

      and how was this even done, given the incredibly faint amount of light available there?
      The same thing occurred to me. The Sun is far brighter than we can see. And there is nothing between the Sumn and Pluto, to diffuse the light.. So, there is still quite a lot of visible light, hitting Pluto. And Pluto has almost no atmosphere to blur the image.



      I thought about saying, "The camera uses a flash"
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      • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
        Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

        The same thing occurred to me. The Sun is far brighter than we can see. And there is nothing between the Sumn and Pluto, to diffuse the light.. So, there is still quite a lot of visible light, hitting Pluto. And Pluto has almost no atmosphere to blur the image.



        I thought about saying, "The camera uses a flash"
        Yes, New Horizons, carried several tactical nukes, and detonated them at closest approach, to act like a giant flash!

        Hmmm, maybe l shouldn't have bought the 5 star crap from fiverr?

        You know what they say about crap?

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        • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
          Aloha, Pluto!



          But we still have about a year and a half of data to look forward too!

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          • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
            Latest findings are that Pluto produces Nitragen gas, most likely from active geysers or cryovolcanism to replenish its atmosphere being constantly stripped away by the suns influence!

            New Horizons

            I predicted active geysers, or the like a few months ago, on this thread!

            Eagerly awaiting an avalanche of Thanks!

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  • Profile picture of the author Princess Balestra
    Woot woot Plute.
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    • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
      Another update, this time it is a closeup of Pluto's surface.

      New Horizons

      A bit like our moon, but with snow on it!

      And Pluto does have a blue Earth like sky, (too lazy to look it up, but it does) but l aint saying anything?

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      • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
        New Horizions took these at closest approach.



        The atmosphere is clearly visible.





        These images were taken at 15,000 kms a second.

        Too difficult to find these on the official site, but l saw this today in a mag, so....

        And it is on track for the Kyper belt object.

        New Horizons


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        • Profile picture of the author Princess Balestra
          Hey -- here is a compluter monitor deserves a stand.

          I am on my feet, applaudin' the misty brilliance.
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          • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
            Originally Posted by Princess Balestra View Post

            Hey -- here is a compluter monitor deserves a stand.

            I am on my feet, applaudin' the misty brilliance.
            LOL, thanks, it is even better enlarged, (this is the best one l could find, barring spending who knows how much time on their site, sifting through, ? headings).



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  • Profile picture of the author David Beroff
    Something strange has been happening on the surface of Pluto. There's a series of hills, each about a couple miles across, and they appear to be moving....

    NASA has an intriguing new explanation for the phenomenon: Those aren't just hills that we're seeing--they're also icebergs....

    [T]here are two different types of ice that we're seeing here: The nitrogen ice that is the most commonly found ice on Pluto and then something a little more familiar to us, water ice.
    Pluto might have icebergs that float in frozen nitrogen

    The Mystery of Pluto's Moving Hills Has Finally Been Solved
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  • Profile picture of the author Princess Balestra
    Slow down, you move too fast.
    You got to make the mornin' last.
    Spinnin' around, out on your own.
    Lookin' for fun and feelin' Ploooty.

    bubba da bub-bub-bub-bub boop boop boopy...
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