Download - Pluto's Close Encounter (June 2015)
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Pluto’s Close EncounterMeredith L. Rawls, PhD Candidate Department of Astronomy New Mexico State University @merrdiff
Artist’s Impression of the New Horizons Spacecraft approaching Pluto
June 25, 2015
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Discovery timeline• Neptune - 1846
• Pluto - 1930
• Charon - 1978
• Nix, Hydra - 2005
• Kerberos - 2011
• Styx - 2012
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!
Clyde Tombaugh’s legacy• Took photographic plates at Lowell Observatory in
1930 and “blinked” them to search for Planet X
• Moved to Las Cruces in the 1940s, helped form the NMSU Astronomy Dept in the 1970s
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Can you discover Pluto?!
!
Jan 23, 1930
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Can you discover Pluto?!
!
Jan 29, 1930
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A chance discovery• Supposed perturbations in Uranus’ and Neptune’s
orbit predicted the existence of “Planet X”
• Models suggested a 6-Earth mass planet at 43 AU
• Found Pluto instead (0.002-Earth mass, 30–50 AU)
VenetiaBurneyPhairPercival Lowell
ElizabethLangdonWilliams
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“Best Image” of Pluto
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How big? How far?
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How big? How far?
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!How big? How far?
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How big? How far?
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How big? How far?
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Image from 2006, when only three moons were known
Pluto facts
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Family Portrait
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New HorizonsLaunch: January 19, 2006
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• Apollo to Moon = 3 days • New Horizons to Moon =
9 hours • Could travel from NY to
LA in 4 minutes
• Speed set by launch and Jupiter slingshot
• Propulsion is for course corrections, not speed
New Horizons is really fast!
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Inst
rum
ents
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Communications• It’s hard to get data from Pluto! • Can downlink data OR take photos
• Last navigation data, July 12 • “Fail Safe” downlinks, July 12-13 • “E-Health 1” near-flyby image, July 13 • —24 hours of terror— • “Phone Home” post-flyby beep, July 14 • “First Look” images sent July 15-16 • “High Priority” data sent July 17-20 • No new images until September 14
(busy with other instruments) • Full set of low-quality images, Sep-Nov • All high-quality images, Nov + 1 year
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SIMULATIONS
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SIMULATIONS
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Latest Images
April 2015
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Latest Images
May 2015
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Latest Images
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Latest Images
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Latest Images
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(this is a GIF; if it doesn’t play, go here: http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2015/06230439-new-horizons-update.html)
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Latest Images
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Latest Images
Lower-resolution MVIC color image used to
colorize a higher-resolution June 21 LORRI image of
Pluto and Charon
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Today’s Latest Image!
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• Celestial body that orbits the Sun
• Massive enough to be spherical
• Has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit
What’s in a name?
Planet
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• Celestial body that orbits the Sun
• Massive enough to be spherical
• Has NOT cleared the neighborhood around its orbit
• Is not a satellite (moon)
What’s in a name?
Dwarf Planet
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What’s in a name?
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Pluto is in good company
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Stay tuned!• See all the latest images:
http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/soc/Pluto-Encounter/
• This is probably the only time Pluto will be visited by a spacecraft in our lifetime
• We are just beginning to answer questions about our own Solar System, and all the while discovering new ones!