Eye's on the New Horizons and the Kuiper Belt

[jacknife]

We also have some other dwarf planets that haven't had any good photographs taken of them, including Ceres, which was discovered in 1801 and is also going to get a fly-by this year. I'm more interested in Pluto and Charon, of course, but Ceres is a fascinating little sphere.

we have a dwarf planet named after the ferryman to hades? that's pretty awesome.

 

[AV1611VET]

we have a dwarf planet named after the ferryman to hades? that's pretty awesome.

Science even blames Jesus for the weather (in print).

Ever heard of El Niño?

 

[jacknife]

yes. E ment to qoute AV there.

 

[LittleLambofJesus]

we have a dwarf planet named after the ferryman to hades? that's pretty awesome.

Ferryman.....Kewl!

Lazarus and the Rich Man - Here a little, there a little - Commentary

Luke 16:26
And on all of these, between Us and Ye a great chasm hath been established, so that those willing to cross-over hence toward ye not be able to,
no yet thence toward us may be ferrying/diaperwsin <1276>.

Mark 6:53
And ferrying/diaperasanteV <1276> (5660), they came upon the land of Gennesaret/genhsaret <1082> and they are moored....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kNwvIEQsg0



.

 

[Standing_Ultraviolet]

we have a dwarf planet named after the ferryman to hades? that's pretty awesome.

It's a moon of Pluto rather than a dwarf planet in its own right, although Charon is large enough that the barycenter for the system is actually outside of Pluto. The IAU is willing to reconsider whether Charon might be classified as a dwarf planet in the future, though, just because of how weird its relationship with Pluto is. Nix and Hydra are two other satellites of Pluto, but they're (probably) relatively uninteresting because of their small size.

Of course, that (probably) could turn into a "definitely not" when New Horizons reaches the system around Pluto. It's all very fascinating.

 

[AV1611VET]

It's all very fascinating.

Confusing, if you ask me.

 

[Standing_Ultraviolet]

Confusing, if you ask me.

So, the possibility of uncovering something new is confusing to you rather than fascinating? That is a very, very sad way of viewing the world, and I'm sorry that you feel that way.

 

[AV1611VET]

So, the possibility of uncovering something new is confusing to you rather than fascinating?

What's "new" in this post I addressed?

It's a moon of Pluto rather than a dwarf planet in its own right, although Charon is large enough that the barycenter for the system is actually outside of Pluto. The IAU is willing to reconsider whether Charon might be classified as a dwarf planet in the future, though, just because of how weird its relationship with Pluto is. Nix and Hydra are two other satellites of Pluto, but they're (probably) relatively uninteresting because of their small size.

Of course, that (probably) could turn into a "definitely not" when New Horizons reaches the system around Pluto. It's all very fascinating.

Charon? Nix? Hydra?

I doubt it, since they've been named already.

 

[Standing_Ultraviolet]

What's "new" in this post I addressed?

Charon? Nix? Hydra?

I doubt it, since they've been named already.

Nix and Hydra particularly are just tiny little dots in the best telescope views that we're able to get right now. They're probably uninteresting, but when we get closer to the system of objects around Pluto, New Horizons will be able to gather information about them at close range. We don't know much about them, so there's a possibility that they could have extremely unusual aspects. They're some of the first Kuiper Belt objects that we're going to get to examine close up, after all.

Some of the other Kuiper Belt objects that we might get a view of because they're orbiting Pluto are called Kerberos and Styx. So, we have a whole family of tiny objects with creepy names.

 

[AV1611VET]

Nix and Hydra particularly are just tiny little dots in the best telescope views that we're able to get right now. They're probably uninteresting, but when we get closer to the system of objects around Pluto, New Horizons will be able to gather information about them at close range. We don't know much about them, so there's a possibility that they could have extremely unusual aspects. They're some of the first Kuiper Belt objects that we're going to get to examine close up, after all.

Until then, okay with you if I find this all confusing?

 

[Standing_Ultraviolet]

Until then, okay with you if I find this all confusing?

I mean, I can't really dictate how you feel about things. So, sure.

 

[AV1611VET]

I mean, I can't really dictate how you feel about things. So, sure.

Thank you.

Then this silly remark:

So, the possibility of uncovering something new is confusing to you rather than fascinating? That is a very, very sad way of viewing the world, and I'm sorry that you feel that way.

... can take a hike.

 

[rockytopva]

We also have a Pluto like system in which I like to refer to as the tenth planet... Xena and her moon Gabriel. It will take 250 years before we can plan a New Horizons type mission to visit Xena.

Xena and Gabriel as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope...

 

[rockytopva]

Appoaching 1.5 AU's!

 

[Standing_Ultraviolet]

Such proximity. Much closeness. Wow.

I'm actually not being sarcastic, despite the Doge text. I'm really excited, because I've been interested in this since I found out about it when I was in middle school. Weird to see it so close to coming to its end now that I'm almost in law school.

 

[loveofourlord]

Any idea on when we will start recieving images from Pluto and such? :> This is a project I've been waiting 30 years + for and watching since 2006 when it left, was so annoyed that neither of the voyager ships was going near Pluto.

 

[rockytopva]

Any idea on when we will start recieving images from Pluto and such? :> This is a project I've been waiting 30 years + for and watching since 2006 when it left, was so annoyed that neither of the voyager ships was going near Pluto.

On the image below you will see the photograph New Horizons took as it passed Neptune's orbit. The reason that the spacecraft could take such a good image is because Neptune is many times bigger than Pluto or Earth. Pluto is a little smaller than the moon so it is going to have to get real close before it can see Pluto better than Hubble.

We have a few months yet before New Horizons can see Pluto better than Hubble. http://www.christianforums.com/t7776955-6/#post66665722

We are at 1.5 AU's!

 

[rockytopva]

Over the next few months, LORRI will take hundreds of pictures of Pluto against star fields to refine the team’s estimates of New Horizons’ distance to Pluto. Though the Pluto system will resemble little more than bright dots in the camera’s view until May, mission navigators will use those data to design course-correction maneuvers that aim the spacecraft toward its flyby target point this summer. The first such maneuver could occur as early as March. “We need to refine our knowledge of where Pluto will be when New Horizons flies past it,” said Mark Holdridge, the New Horizons encounter mission manager from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md. “The flyby timing also has to be exact, because the computer commands that will orient the spacecraft and point the science instruments are based on precisely knowing the time we pass Pluto – which these images will help us determine.”


New Horizons Web Site

 

[rockytopva]

As NASA prepares for showtime...

Looks like we are at approach phase 1 where the space craft takes hundreds of photos and compares them with stars in the background sky. I would say then a program will be uploaded to the spacecraft where it will go through sequences of commands to take pictures during the flyby. The timing of the operation must be perfect otherwise the spacecraft will be taking pictures of things other than the Pluto System planet and moons!

 

[rockytopva]

Pluto images from 1.3 AU's New Horizons