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Time-Lapse of Pluto and Charon Produced By New Horizons

Posted by Soulskill on from the drifting-ever-closer dept.

schwit1 writes: Cool images! Using New Horizons' long range camera, scientists have compiled a movie showing Charon and Pluto orbiting each other during the last week of January 2015. "Pluto and Charon were observed for an entire rotation of each body; a "day" on Pluto and Charon is 6.4 Earth days. The first of the images was taken when New Horizons was about 3 billion miles from Earth, but just 126 million miles (203 million kilometers) from Pluto — about 30% farther than Earth's distance from the Sun. The last frame came 6.5 days later, with New Horizons more than 5 million miles (8 million kilometers) closer." The wobble easily visible in Pluto's motion is due to the gravity of Charon, about one-eighth as massive as Pluto and about the size of Texas. Our view of Pluto and Charon is only going to get better as New Horizons zooms towards its July fly-by.

31 of 44 comments (clear)

  1. More than 1 AU by rossdee · · Score: 1

    Still pretty far away

    1. Re:More than 1 AU by ihtoit · · Score: 5, Insightful

      what we have from NH is what we had in 2012 from Gemini North, Hawai'i. That's not to say "Oh, how disappointing!", what you've got to consider (and from what I'm reading down this page, not many people are) is that the GN observations will NEVER get any better because OPTICAL PHYSICS and the fact that those observations were made when Pluto was about as close as it's going to get for a good while. NH is getting closer by the day - right now it is closer to Pluto than this planet will EVER get. The images are only going to get BETTER as it approaches - providing the cameras don't fail.

      --
      Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
  2. July Fly-by by rossdee · · Score: 3, Funny

    It makes sense when you're going to thecoldest planet in the solar system, to arrive in summer.

    1. Re:July Fly-by by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Well, that is unless you count, say, Eris, but as it happens, this is sort of late summer on Pluto -- the seasons are not so much caused by axial tilt as by Pluto's eccentric orbit. Midsummer fell at perihelion in 1989, midwinter will be in 2114.

    2. Re:July Fly-by by Livius · · Score: 3, Funny

      As opposed to February, which is in summer. (Note both depend on your hemisphere.)

    3. Re: July Fly-by by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      February depends on the hemisphere?

  3. Ob by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    That's no moon!

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    1. Re:Ob by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      That's no moon!

      That's no planet!

    2. Re:Ob by MrLogic17 · · Score: 1

      You and the IAU can take a hike. I'm looking forward to seeing up close photos of the planet Pluto.

      And yes, I have mod points, and am posting anyway.

  4. Need CSI by inflex · · Score: 3, Funny

    They should have gotten CSI on the job, need that zoom+enhance facility.

    1. Re:Need CSI by jez9999 · · Score: 1

      They already did: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wi...

      --
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  5. Re:Meh by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 1

    Don't complain. Resolution is at least 8 x 8.

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  6. Thank you Mr Norris! by MrKaos · · Score: 1

    One still notes that Charon isn't actually bigger than Texas, though it could be one of Chuck Norris' turds! Now we will find out for sure.

    Thank you NASA. Thank you American taxpayer, this is one of the most inspiring things I've seen for a long time.

    I wish NASA a long mission!!

    --
    My ism, it's full of beliefs.
    1. Re:Thank you Mr Norris! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Chuck Norris is a religious nut, can we please stop these jokes about how tough he is. He has no sense of humor and actively sues people using his memes on joke products.

  7. Re:Sigh! by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    But don't tell her a year takes like 248 years.

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  8. "That's no moon..." by jpellino · · Score: 1

    (obligatory Ep.IV quote... parenthetical added since last time some people though this was a dissertation in planetary astronomy)

    --
    "Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
  9. Pretty cool, but by amanaplanacanalpanam · · Score: 1

    It makes me wish they had taken (or would publish) more than a mere 7 frames. At only 1 frame per day, it reminds me more of a stop-motion than time-lapse.

  10. And what of the Earth? by xigxag · · Score: 1

    It's really amazing to see that visible wobble.

    It makes me wonder if there are any available time lapses of the Earth-Moon system from a comparable vantage point? And would they show a much smaller but still faintly perceptible wobble in the Earth?

    --
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    1. Re:And what of the Earth? by iggymanz · · Score: 2

      You'd see a massive wobble! the center of mass of the Earth - Moon system is at 74% of the Earth's radius

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B...

    2. Re:And what of the Earth? by aduxorth · · Score: 1

      +1 interesting.
      Thanks for that.

  11. Mass Effect 4 by Myria · · Score: 1

    So, what's Mass Effect 4 going to do when the premise that Charon is actually a "mass relay" is no longer usable for suspension of disbelief? =^-^=

    --
    "Screw Sun, cross-platform will never work. Let's move on and steal the Java language." - Visual J++ Product Manager
    1. Re:Mass Effect 4 by Voyager529 · · Score: 1

      So, what's Mass Effect 4 going to do when the premise that Charon is actually a "mass relay" is no longer usable for suspension of disbelief? =^-^=

      Personally, I'm hoping that we find out that Charon is a mass relay...or at least, made out of cheese.

    2. Re:Mass Effect 4 by infolation · · Score: 1

      At minus 240 degrees C, the cheese won't be in very good condition.

    3. Re:Mass Effect 4 by vandamme · · Score: 1

      It'll be fine once you thaw it out. At least that's what my wife says.

  12. Re:Interesting angle by ihtoit · · Score: 1

    no, it's pretty much face-on to the approach. Pluto's polar tilt is something like 120 degrees (give or take a couple) to its orbit. Charon's inclination to the Plutonian equator is 0.0 and they're each tidally locked to the other: Pluto presents the same face to Charon and vice versa. The nearside of one will never see the far side of the other. As they're tidally locked and orbit an external barycentre, their common orbits in the Plutonian frame of reference are almost perfectly circular (off by fractions of a percent if that). You could tie their closest points together with a rope and that rope will never stretch or slacken.

    --
    Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
  13. ambassador to the outer solar system by globaljustin · · Score: 2

    the IAU should grant Pluto a once-in-the-universe exception to the definition of 'planet'

    it's perfect for kids...

    why?

    because Pluto technically isn't a planet even though historically it is known as one of the planets

    why isn't it a planet?

    see...it's just a big excuse to talk about astronomy

    put an asterisk by it in the textbooks

    the IAU could bolster its reputation by doing this as well

    --
    Thank you Dave Raggett
    1. Re:ambassador to the outer solar system by Caesar+Tjalbo · · Score: 1

      I always loved the sound of "Pluto" at the end of the list of planets.

      --
      "I'm not much interested in interoperability. I want substitutability. I want to be able to throw your software out."
    2. Re:ambassador to the outer solar system by painandgreed · · Score: 1

      the IAU should grant Pluto a once-in-the-universe exception to the definition of 'planet'

      Same as we have a term for the Classical Planets as those that could be seen with the naked eye and known though history, I suspect we'll end up with a term such as Modern Planets or Classical Modern Planets that will include Pluto simply because it was a planet for some time.

  14. Re:Interesting angle by globaljustin · · Score: 1

    You could tie their closest points together with a rope and that rope will never stretch or slacken.

    it would be cool to actually do this

    imho, it wouldn't "never stretch or slacken"....

    relatively speaking, yes

    but if you actually did this, you'd need at least...idk...1000 km of slack...just a guess

    --
    Thank you Dave Raggett
  15. Re:Thank you NASA by MrKaos · · Score: 1

    Chuck Norris is a religious nut, can we please stop these jokes about how tough he is. He has no sense of humor and actively sues people using his memes on joke products.

    Yep, I see what you mean. He's a bit of a jerk.

    --
    My ism, it's full of beliefs.
  16. Re:Interesting angle by pslytely+psycho · · Score: 1

    Giant Bungee Cord FTW!!!

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