NEW HORIZONS PLUTO and CHARON
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Pluto's Long, Strange History — in Pictures : Nature News & Comment
Pluto's long, strange history — in pictures Nature marks the 85th anniversary of the dwarf planet's discovery. Alexandra Witze 18 February 2015 Even at a distance of 5 billion kilometres, Pluto has entranced scientists and the public back on Earth. Nature looks at the history of this enigmatic world, which in July will get its first close-up visit by a spacecraft. First glimpse Lowell Observatory 18 February 1930: Farmer-turned-astronomer Clyde Tombaugh (pictured), aged 24, discovers Pluto while comparing photographic plates of the night sky at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. The discovery, announced on 13 March 1930, is the culmination of observatory founder Percival Lowell’s obsessive quest to find a ‘Planet X’, the existence of which was suspected based on perturbations in Neptune’s orbit. Name game Galaxy Picture Library 1 May 1930: The Lowell Observatory announces that its favoured name for the discovery is Pluto, suggested by 11-year-old Venetia Burney (pictured) from Oxford, UK, after the Roman god of the underworld. Venetia later becomes the namesake of a student-built dust counter on NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, which is currently on its way to Pluto. Pair bond US Naval Observatory 22 June 1978: James Christy and Robert Harrington, of the US Naval Observatory's Flagstaff Station, discover Pluto’s largest moon, Charon. It is visible as a bulge (at top in left image) that regularly appears and disappears in observational images as the two bodies orbit their mutual centre of gravity1. The moon is so large relative to Pluto that the two are sometimes referred to as a binary planet. -
Chemical Composition of Pluto's Aerosols Analogues
EPSC Abstracts Vol. 13, EPSC-DPS2019-941-1, 2019 EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2019 c Author(s) 2019. CC Attribution 4.0 license. Chemical composition of Pluto’s aerosols analogues Lora Jovanovic (1), Thomas Gautier (1), Nathalie Carrasco (1), Véronique Vuitton (2), Cédric Wolters (2), François-Régis Orthous-Daunay (2), Ludovic Vettier (1), Laurène Flandinet (2) ([email protected]) (1) Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Guyancourt, France (2) Institut de Planétologie et d’Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), Grenoble, France Abstract Table 1: Types of Pluto’s aerosols analogues produced with the PAMPRE experiment. The discovery of haze in Pluto’s atmosphere on July 14th, 2015, has raised lots of questions. To help Corresponding understand the data provided by the New Horizons Composition of the gas mixture altitude on spacecraft, Pluto’s aerosols analogues were Pluto [2] synthetized and their chemical composition was 99% N2 : 1% CH4 : 500 ppm CO 400 km determined by high-resolution mass spectrometry 95% N2 : 5% CH4 : 500 ppm CO 600 km (Orbitrap technique). 2.2. High-resolution mass spectrometry 1. Introduction (HRMS) study On July 14th, 2015, when Pluto was flown by the New Horizons spacecraft, aerosols were detected in its We analyzed the soluble fraction of Pluto’s aerosols atmosphere, mainly composed of molecular nitrogen analogues, dissolved in a 50:50 (v/v)% methanol:acetonitrile mixture. The analytical N2, methane CH4, with around 500 ppm of carbon monoxide CO [1,2,3]. These aerosols aggregate into instrument used was the LTQ Orbitrap XL several thin haze layers that extend at more than (ThermoFisher Scientific). -
+ New Horizons
Media Contacts NASA Headquarters Policy/Program Management Dwayne Brown New Horizons Nuclear Safety (202) 358-1726 [email protected] The Johns Hopkins University Mission Management Applied Physics Laboratory Spacecraft Operations Michael Buckley (240) 228-7536 or (443) 778-7536 [email protected] Southwest Research Institute Principal Investigator Institution Maria Martinez (210) 522-3305 [email protected] NASA Kennedy Space Center Launch Operations George Diller (321) 867-2468 [email protected] Lockheed Martin Space Systems Launch Vehicle Julie Andrews (321) 853-1567 [email protected] International Launch Services Launch Vehicle Fran Slimmer (571) 633-7462 [email protected] NEW HORIZONS Table of Contents Media Services Information ................................................................................................ 2 Quick Facts .............................................................................................................................. 3 Pluto at a Glance ...................................................................................................................... 5 Why Pluto and the Kuiper Belt? The Science of New Horizons ............................... 7 NASA’s New Frontiers Program ........................................................................................14 The Spacecraft ........................................................................................................................15 Science Payload ...............................................................................................................16 -
1 the Atmosphere of Pluto As Observed by New Horizons G
The Atmosphere of Pluto as Observed by New Horizons G. Randall Gladstone,1,2* S. Alan Stern,3 Kimberly Ennico,4 Catherine B. Olkin,3 Harold A. Weaver,5 Leslie A. Young,3 Michael E. Summers,6 Darrell F. Strobel,7 David P. Hinson,8 Joshua A. Kammer,3 Alex H. Parker,3 Andrew J. Steffl,3 Ivan R. Linscott,9 Joel Wm. Parker,3 Andrew F. Cheng,5 David C. Slater,1† Maarten H. Versteeg,1 Thomas K. Greathouse,1 Kurt D. Retherford,1,2 Henry Throop,7 Nathaniel J. Cunningham,10 William W. Woods,9 Kelsi N. Singer,3 Constantine C. C. Tsang,3 Rebecca Schindhelm,3 Carey M. Lisse,5 Michael L. Wong,11 Yuk L. Yung,11 Xun Zhu,5 Werner Curdt,12 Panayotis Lavvas,13 Eliot F. Young,3 G. Leonard Tyler,9 and the New Horizons Science Team 1Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX 78238, USA 2University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA 3Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA 4National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Ames Research Center, Space Science Division, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA 5The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 20723, USA 6George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA 7The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA 8Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA 9Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA 10Nebraska Wesleyan University, Lincoln, NE 68504 11California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA 12Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, 37191 Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany 13Groupe de Spectroscopie Moléculaire et Atmosphérique, Université Reims Champagne-Ardenne, 51687 Reims, France *To whom correspondence should be addressed. -
What Is the Color of Pluto? - Universe Today
What is the Color of Pluto? - Universe Today space and astronomy news Universe Today Home Members Guide to Space Carnival Photos Videos Forum Contact Privacy Login NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft captured this high-resolution enhanced color view of http://www.universetoday.com/13866/color-of-pluto/[29-Mar-17 13:18:37] What is the Color of Pluto? - Universe Today Pluto on July 14, 2015. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI WHAT IS THE COLOR OF PLUTO? Article Updated: 28 Mar , 2017 by Matt Williams When Pluto was first discovered by Clybe Tombaugh in 1930, astronomers believed that they had found the ninth and outermost planet of the Solar System. In the decades that followed, what little we were able to learn about this distant world was the product of surveys conducted using Earth-based telescopes. Throughout this period, astronomers believed that Pluto was a dirty brown color. In recent years, thanks to improved observations and the New Horizons mission, we have finally managed to obtain a clear picture of what Pluto looks like. In addition to information about its surface features, composition and tenuous atmosphere, much has been learned about Pluto’s appearance. Because of this, we now know that the one-time “ninth planet” of the Solar System is rich and varied in color. Composition: With a mean density of 1.87 g/cm3, Pluto’s composition is differentiated between an icy mantle and a rocky core. The surface is composed of more than 98% nitrogen ice, with traces of methane and carbon monoxide. Scientists also suspect that Pluto’s internal structure is differentiated, with the rocky material having settled into a dense core surrounded by a mantle of water ice. -
Pluto and Charon
National Aeronautics and Space Administration 0 300,000,000 900,000,000 1,500,000,000 2,100,000,000 2,700,000,000 3,300,000,000 3,900,000,000 4,500,000,000 5,100,000,000 5,700,000,000 kilometers Pluto and Charon www.nasa.gov Pluto is classified as a dwarf planet and is also a member of a Charon’s orbit around Pluto takes 6.4 Earth days, and one Pluto SIGNIFICANT DATES group of objects that orbit in a disc-like zone beyond the orbit of rotation (a Pluto day) takes 6.4 Earth days. Charon neither rises 1930 — Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto. Neptune called the Kuiper Belt. This distant realm is populated nor sets but “hovers” over the same spot on Pluto’s surface, 1977–1999 — Pluto’s lopsided orbit brings it slightly closer to with thousands of miniature icy worlds, which formed early in the and the same side of Charon always faces Pluto — this is called the Sun than Neptune. It will be at least 230 years before Pluto history of the solar system. These icy, rocky bodies are called tidal locking. Compared with most of the planets and moons, the moves inward of Neptune’s orbit for 20 years. Kuiper Belt objects or transneptunian objects. Pluto–Charon system is tipped on its side, like Uranus. Pluto’s 1978 — American astronomers James Christy and Robert Har- rotation is retrograde: it rotates “backwards,” from east to west Pluto’s 248-year-long elliptical orbit can take it as far as 49.3 as- rington discover Pluto’s unusually large moon, Charon. -
Results from the New Horizons Encounter with Pluto
EPSC Abstracts Vol. 11, EPSC2017-140, 2017 European Planetary Science Congress 2017 EEuropeaPn PlanetarSy Science CCongress c Author(s) 2017 Results from the New Horizons encounter with Pluto C. B. Olkin (1), S. A. Stern (1), J. R. Spencer (1), H. A. Weaver (2), L. A. Young (1), K. Ennico (3) and the New Horizons Team (1) Southwest Research Institute, Colorado, USA, (2) Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Maryland, USA (3) NASA Ames Research Center, California, USA ([email protected]) Abstract Hydra) and the various processes that would darken those surfaces over time [5]. In July 2015, the New Horizons spacecraft flew through the Pluto system providing high spatial resolution panchromatic and color visible light imaging, near-infrared composition mapping spectroscopy, UV airglow measurements, UV solar and radio uplink occultations for atmospheric sounding, and in situ plasma and dust measurements that have transformed our understanding of Pluto and its moons [1]. Results from the science investigations focusing on geology, surface composition and atmospheric studies of Pluto and its largest satellite Charon will be presented. We also describe the New Horizons extended mission. 1. Geology and Size Highlights from the geology investigation of Pluto Figure 1: The glacial ices of Sputnik Planitia. The include the discovery of a unexpected diversity of cellular pattern is a surface expression of mobile lid geomorpholgies across the surface, the discovery of a convection. The boundaries of the cells are troughs. deep basin (informally known as Sputnik Planitia) Despite it’s size of ~900,000 km2, there are no containing glacial ices undergoing mobile-lid identified craters across Sputnik Planitia. -
PLUTO: a New Way to Explore the Planets
Q)mft version 4.1 ************************************** PLUTO: A New Way To Explore the Planets By Richard Shope and Jackie Giuliano ***** ********************************* he Pluto Fast Flyby Mission is an exciting adventure beginning (he next century with a new wuy to explore the planets, The Pluto Preproject Team at the Jet Propulsion 1,aboratory is leading the effort to design and build two spacecraft equipped with @ components atthe cutting edgeof advanced technology. ‘I’he proposed odyssey inthe first years of the ncw century will be achieved through the combined efforts of American and Russian project teams, and perhaps using Russian launch vehicles known as Protons. After seven to nine years in flight, these two innovative, cost-effective spacecraft will provide us the first ever view of the last unexplored planetary system: the mysterious planet Pluto and its enigmatic moon, Charon. The video “Ot(t of the Darkness: Mis- sion 7b Plu[o” (JPI. AVC-94- 164) provides an overview of this mission and an opportu- nity to involve your students in the challenges of such an ambitious endeavor. uL’k, vNk’k, uEu, N,k’LElkk L,uNk’Hk’L,&,k,kluE~NkL~ L’EURL, U kN vL Involve your students in ~k ku’ the thrill of discoveiy! ~ k u uk’k L,vk L’k, kQLl&kp Qlkk Llkkkl Qkklukk, ~x~, ~~ ~,~~~~~ The Pluto Fast Flyby video affords an opportunity for the teacher and student to ex- plore many concepts. These curriculum guides The cost-e ftlcient Pluto Fast Flyby spacecraft have been designed to provide the teacher at encountering Pluto and its moon Charon. -
1 on the Origin of the Pluto System Robin M. Canup Southwest Research Institute Kaitlin M. Kratter University of Arizona Marc Ne
On the Origin of the Pluto System Robin M. Canup Southwest Research Institute Kaitlin M. Kratter University of Arizona Marc Neveu NASA Goddard Space Flight Center / University of Maryland The goal of this chapter is to review hypotheses for the origin of the Pluto system in light of observational constraints that have been considerably refined over the 85-year interval between the discovery of Pluto and its exploration by spacecraft. We focus on the giant impact hypothesis currently understood as the likeliest origin for the Pluto-Charon binary, and devote particular attention to new models of planet formation and migration in the outer Solar System. We discuss the origins conundrum posed by the system’s four small moons. We also elaborate on implications of these scenarios for the dynamical environment of the early transneptunian disk, the likelihood of finding a Pluto collisional family, and the origin of other binary systems in the Kuiper belt. Finally, we highlight outstanding open issues regarding the origin of the Pluto system and suggest areas of future progress. 1. INTRODUCTION For six decades following its discovery, Pluto was the only known Sun-orbiting world in the dynamical vicinity of Neptune. An early origin concept postulated that Neptune originally had two large moons – Pluto and Neptune’s current moon, Triton – and that a dynamical event had both reversed the sense of Triton’s orbit relative to Neptune’s rotation and ejected Pluto onto its current heliocentric orbit (Lyttleton, 1936). This scenario remained in contention following the discovery of Charon, as it was then established that Pluto’s mass was similar to that of a large giant planet moon (Christy and Harrington, 1978). -
The Surface Compositions of Pluto and Charon ⇑ D.P
Icarus 246 (2015) 82–92 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Icarus journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/icarus The surface compositions of Pluto and Charon ⇑ D.P. Cruikshank a, , W.M. Grundy b, F.E. DeMeo c, M.W. Buie d, R.P. Binzel e, D.E. Jennings f, C.B. Olkin d, J.W. Parker d, D.C. Reuter f, J.R. Spencer d, S.A. Stern d, L.A. Young d, H.A. Weaver g a NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, United States b Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, United States c Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States d Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, United States e Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States f NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, United States g Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, MD 20723, United States article info abstract Article history: The surface of Pluto as it is understood on the eve of the encounter of the New Horizons spacecraft Received 6 January 2014 (mid-2015) consists of a spatially heterogeneous mix of solid N2,CH4, CO, C2H6, and an additional Revised 15 May 2014 component that imparts color, and may not be an ice. The known molecular ices are detected by Accepted 16 May 2014 near-infrared spectroscopy. The N ice occurs in the hexagonal crystalline b-phase, stable at T > 35.6 K. Available online 6 June 2014 2 Spectroscopic evidence for wavelength shifts in the CH4 bands attests to the complex mixing of CH4 and N2 in the solid state, in accordance with the phase diagram for N2 +CH4. -
Pluto and Its Cohorts, Which Is Not Ger Passing by and Falling in Love So Much When Compared to the with Her
INTERNATIONAL SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE SPATIUM Published by the Association Pro ISSI No. 33, March 2014 141348_Spatium_33_(001_016).indd 1 19.03.14 13:47 Editorial A sunny spring day. A green On 20 March 2013, Dr. Hermann meadow on the gentle slopes of Boehnhardt reported on the pre- Impressum Mount Etna and a handsome sent state of our knowledge of woman gathering flowers. A stran- Pluto and its cohorts, which is not ger passing by and falling in love so much when compared to the with her. planets in our cosmic neighbour- hood, yet impressively much in SPATIUM Next time, when she is picking view of their modest size and their Published by the flowers again, the foreigner returns gargantuan distance. In fact, ob- Association Pro ISSI on four black horses. Now, he, serving dwarf planet Pluto poses Pluto, the Roman god of the un- similar challenges to watching an derworld, carries off Proserpina to astronaut’s face on the Moon. marry her and live together in the shadowland. The heartbroken We thank Dr. Boehnhardt for his Association Pro ISSI mother Ceres insists on her return; kind permission to publishing Hallerstrasse 6, CH-3012 Bern she compromises with Pluto allow- herewith a summary of his fasci- Phone +41 (0)31 631 48 96 ing Proserpina to living under the nating talk for our Pro ISSI see light of the Sun during six months association. www.issibern.ch/pro-issi.html of a year, called summer from now for the whole Spatium series on, when the flowers bloom on the Hansjörg Schlaepfer slopes of Mount Etna, while hav- Brissago, March 2014 President ing to stay in the twilight of the Prof. -
Exploring the Atmosphere of Pluto
Exploring the Atmosphere of Pluto Pluto radius… 1184 km Pluto's atmosphere consists of a thin 22 Pluto mass…. 1.3x10 kg envelope consisting of 90% nitrogen, and 10% methane, and traces of carbon Pluto temperature: Closest to sun…. 55 kelvin (-218 C) monoxide gases. These are produced by Farthest from sun… 33 kelvin (-240 C) the ices of these substances on its surface. As Pluto moves away from the Sun, its atmosphere gradually freezes out and falls to the ground. When Pluto is closer to the Sun, the temperature of Pluto's solid surface increases, causing the ices to sublimate into gas. One way to compare the atmospheres of the planets is by calculating their scale heights. The scale height is the height above the surface such that 37% of the mass of the atmosphere is below this height. Mathematically, this is equal to Pluto's atmospheric details. (Credit: NASA/JHUAPL) e-1=1/2.7 of the material. From the formula for H, you can see that as Scale-height: you make your planet more massive, the kT H = scale height ‘thickness’ of the atmosphere Mg decreases. But if you have the same planet closer to the sun where it can be hotter, -23 k = 1.38x10 J/K the thickness of the atmosphere can T = temperature in kelvin increase. g = acceleration of gravity at surface M = mass of the molecule in kg It is also the case that an atmosphere composed of low-mass molecules like For Earth’s atmosphere, T = 290 k, hydrogen (smaller M) is much thicker than -26 2 M=4.8x10 kg, g = 9.8 m/sec , the atmospheres of heavier molecules then H = 8500 meters.