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July 2016 - Spacecraft Juno Meets Jupiter
Report #17 - June 2016
Journey to Pluto
In present day, Pluto has become nothing but a body of rocky ice, receiving the title of "dwarf planet" and being excluded from the line of planets in our solar system. However, when scientists made the decision to outcast Pluto, one of NASA's probes, New Horizons, had already been launched to investigate the once-called planet. Nine years and five billion kilometers later, New Horizons finally reached Pluto in July of 2015!
Discover Pluto the Dwarf Planet
New Horizons proves that Pluto is more than meets the eye,
taking astonishing photos of the cold dwarf planet and
spotting what looks to be an ice cap near of its poles.
The discoveries don't end there. In fact, with the space probe's complex technology from spectrometers to sensors, scientists will be able to receive exclusive data of Pluto's atmosphere and surface taken just 12,500 kilometers away.
An Artist's interpretation of New Horizons as it orbits Pluto
What's there to Learn About Pluto?
An amimation of multiple observations of Pluto over the past couple decades. Image Credit for 1930 Pluto: Clyde Tombaugh, Lowell Observatory, 1930
Pluto is truly a unique dwarf planet; all it takes is a little digging and investigating to prove it. In combination with what scientists know about Pluto and new discoveries from New Horizions, perhaps Pluto will rise to new heights and gain back some of the respect that was lost from having been demoted to a dwarf planet.
What Scientists Already Know
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Change in brightness
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Change in temperature
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Pressure increase
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Five moons (Charon, Nix, Hyrdra, Kerberos, and Styx)
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Charon, the biggest moon of the four, has "crystalline ice and ammonium hydrates" on its surface
What New Horizons Can Discover
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Do Pluto and Charon share a common atmosphere?
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What are the "outflows" that came from Charon's interior?
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Does Charon have geyers?
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Could Pluto or Charon, or both, have or have had subsurface oceans?
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What alies in Pluto's four smaller moons?
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What are Pluto's secrets?
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What lies is the Kuiper belt region?
What's Been Discovered?
From July to September, New Horizions has cracked down on new and interesting information about Pluto and the dwarf planet's moons. Each week, the spacecraft adds to scientists' growing knowledge about the former planet. Below are a couple new NASA discoveries that were brought to scientist's' attention. For more, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/pluto-wows-in-spectacular-new-backlit-panorama
Geology on Pluto?
July 11, 2015
As New Horizons approached Pluto, new never before seen details on Pluto sugguested that the dwarf planet may have peculiar land features like cliffs and impact craters on its surface.
Pluto's and its Moons' Sizes
July 13, 2015
In comparision, Pluto's diameter is about 18.5% the size of Earth's while Charon's is about 9.5%.
Measurements gathered from New Horizions of Nix and Hydra were compared to the size of Denver, Colorado
Thanks to the LORRI (Long Range Reconnaissance Imager), Pluto was discovered to be 1,473 miles (2,370 kilometers) in diameter, making the dwarf planet the largest "known solar system object beyond the orbit of Neptune." This discovery also confirmed that Pluto is less dense than predicted, the portion of ice in its interior is higher, and that its troposphere (lowest atmosphere) is shallower. Due to Charon's atmosphere, measuring its size using ground-based telescopes from Earth was an easy task. However, with New Horizions, it was confirmed that the largest moon of Pluto was in fact 751 miles (1208 kilometers) in diameter. In addition to Pluto and Charon, New Horizons was also able to estimate the sizes of two of the four smaller moons of Pluto, Nix and Hydra. Nix measured about to be approximately 20 miles (35 kilometers) and Hyrdra 30 miles (45 kilometers) across. Both are now believed to potentially carry ice on their surfaces since both moons have bright appearances.
Pluto: Dwarf Planet of Ice
July 15, 2015
Three wavelengths of infarred light were use to study the methane ice on pluto.
Blue = lights of wavelengths 1.62-1.70 micrometers (medium-strong absorption band of methane ice)
Green = lights of wavelengths 1.97-2.05 micrometers (methane doesn't asborb light)
Red = lights of wavelemgths 2.30-2.33 micrometers (light is very heavily aborbed by methane ice)
Spectral traces to the right (graph) are based on outlined observations on Pluto (left).
SOURCE: nasa.gov
https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/pluto-the-ice-plot-thickens
A spectra taken by New Horizons' Ralph Instument shows high levels of methane ice around certain areas of Pluto's surface. Pluto's ice seems to have various concentrations, some areas stronger than others, of methane due to being diluted with nitrogen gas. This is believed to cause Pluto's ice to have different textures depending on methane and nitrogen concentrations in the ice.
Pluto's Inner Beauty
September 15, 2015
11,ooo miles away, New Horizons captured a stunning view of Pluto's ice geography (230 miles/380 kilometers across) on July 14, 2015. Icy flat plains stretch across Pluto's right side, informally named "Sputnik Planum." Side-by-side, Sputnik borders a series of 11,000 foot (3,500 meter) high icy mountains, one informally named "Norgay Montes" by the foreground and other "Hillary Montes" on the skyline. (Source: NASA gov.) Over a dozen heavy layers of haze hover in Pluto's atmosphere above the skyline.
The Odd, but Beautiful One Out
July 23, 2015
Four of New Horizon's detailed images of Pluto, taken 280,000 miles (450,00 kilometer) away from the dwarf planet, were merged with color data from the Ralph intstrument to create a natural and phenomenal work of art; both artistically and scientifically, for, thanks to the false coloring, scientists were able to see Pluto's texture and composition. The results? That stretch of flat ice plains, Sputnik Planum (that looks like the shape of a heart), is now believed to have "a source region of ices" in its center. The transportation of exotic ices from Sputnik Planum are suggested to be the "lobes" of this heart-shape geologic feature.
SOURCES:
http://discoverynewfrontiers.nasa.gov/missions/missions_nh.cfml
https://www.nasa.gov/nh/new-horizons-responds-spacecraft-anomaly/
https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/views-of-pluto-through-the-years
https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/new-horizons-last-portrait-of-pluto-s-puzzling-spots
https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/pluto-the-ice-plot-thickens
https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/pluto-s-north-pole-equator-and-central-meridian
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/one-million-miles-to-go-pluto-is-more-intriguing-than-ever
https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/new-horizons-captures-two-of-plutos-smaller-moons
https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/closer-look-majestic-mountains-and-frozen-plains
"Poised for Pluto." Scientific American July 2015: 26. Print.