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NASA's New Horizons Focuses On Pluto's Largest Moon Charon

Posted by samzenpus on from the one-piece-of-silver dept.

MarkWhittington writes: New Horizons has already discovered much of what was previously unknown about Pluto, the dwarf planet that is the former ninth planet from the sun. NASA reported that the space probe has also uncovered some of the secrets of Pluto's largest moon, Charon. It has found indications of impact craters on the moon's gray surface as well as a chasm that seems to be bigger than the Grand Canyon on Earth. Charon has a diameter of just 1440 miles. By contrast, Earth has a diameter of 7918 miles.

18 of 77 comments (clear)

  1. Bigger than the Grand Canyon Taller than Everest by Crashmarik · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Really it's impressive before you think about it. The Earth has active plate tectonics and ongoing weathering. It should come as no surprise that planets which don't have more pronounced features.

  2. What is Pluto? by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 2, Insightful

    >> Pluto, the dwarf planet that is the former ninth planet from the sun

    Thanks for the explanation - as Slashdot readers, we needed it.

    1. Re:What is Pluto? by ArcadeMan · · Score: 2

      Or, Prince style: The dwarf planet formerly known as the ninth planet from the Sun.

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    2. Re:What is Pluto? by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Or, Prince style: The dwarf planet formerly known as the ninth planet from the Sun.

      If there are dwarves on that planet, it makes sense that they'd have a prince.

    3. Re:What is Pluto? by Woeful+Countenance · · Score: 4, Informative

      It was also formerly the eighth planet from the sun, between 1979 and 1999.

    4. Re:What is Pluto? by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 3, Funny

      Pretty hilarious that the summary goes to such lengths to describe Pluto for us, but the next article with drop some acronym like DPITMD*, and everyone but a few people who happen to be in a relevant industry will scratch their heads and think "okay, but wtf is DPITMD?"

      * Describing Pluto In Too Much Detail

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  3. In SI Units by codesmith.ca · · Score: 2, Informative

    Charon has a diameter of just 2317 km. By contrast, Earth has a diameter of 12743 km.

    (FTFY - assuming statute miles, not nautical miles.)

    1. Re:In SI Units by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      The conversion is fine, but the premise is wrong. Charon's diameter is just 750 miles, or 1207km. The dimensions given in TFS are for Pluto.

    2. Re:In SI Units by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      At US interstate speeds of 75 MPH, and a road going from one side to the other, you could drive through Charon in roughly 10 hours. Driving through Pluto would take roughly twice as long. According to Google, the drive from Seattle to Dallas is roughly 3 Charon diameters. Driving from Seattle to Houston would be similar to driving all the way around the surface of Charon once.

    3. Re:In SI Units by rasmusbr · · Score: 2

      Pictures tend to work better. Find Pluto and Charon in these:

      http://i.imgur.com/5Vzof1w.png
      http://kokogiak.com/solarsyste...

  4. Re:Then what? by xevioso · · Score: 2

    Supposedly it will continue out into the Kupier belt. First that have to get funding to pay for Astronomers to continue the mission, meaning paying the salaries of Astronomers to reprogram and monitor the craft. I don't know if Eris or any of the other larger Kupier belt objects are within easy distance, but it will take a few years for the craft to reach whatever specific object they have planned for it to go to next. It only has a little bit of fuel left for maneuvering, but it has SOME fuel left as I recall so they can probably send it someplace nearby.

  5. Re:Bigger than the Grand Canyon Taller than Everes by dotancohen · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Really it's impressive before you think about it. The Earth has active plate tectonics and ongoing weathering. It should come as no surprise that planets which don't have more pronounced features.

    Also, the Earth has much higher gravity. Surface elevation gradients are much more pronounced on bodies with lower surface gravity, even though they have higher tidal gradients. Mars' largest volcano, Mons Olympus, could not stand on Earth due to the 3x higher gravity here.

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  6. Re:Bigger than the Grand Canyon Taller than Everes by SkyratesPlayer · · Score: 3, Informative

    Actually, some mountains (notably Everest) and the deep sea trenches are there because of plate tectonics, not despite it.

  7. With a chasm that large by Voyager529 · · Score: 2

    With a chasm that large, it should be easy to see the frozen Mass Relay. C'mon New Horizons, start melting!

  8. Re:Then what? by thermopile · · Score: 3, Informative
    By using up about 35% of its remaining fuel budget, New Horizons will be able to visit a Kuiper Belt Object. Interestingly, that potential object was spotted just a few weeks after New Horizons launched.

    Anticipated arrival date: January 2019. Be patient...

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  9. Re:Drop rate by Chacharoo · · Score: 2

    The data rate for sending images and other science data is really low. That's because of the extreme distance and because New Horizons has limited power (produced by its RTG). The images, once they get home, are going to be great, but it's going to take a while to get it all back.

  10. Re:Who would have thought? by Rei · · Score: 2

    What's more interesting is how few there are (on both bodies).

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  11. Correction by argStyopa · · Score: 2

    PLUTO has a diameter of 1440 miles.
    Charon has a diameter of 790.

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