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Pluto's Haze
Today brings another release of images from NASA's New Horizons probe. This time, it includes an image taken seven hours after closest approach, when the probe was looking back at Pluto. It captured the dwarf planet in silhouette: the body of the planet is in darkness, but the atmosphere is luminous with deflected sunlight. "A preliminary analysis of the image shows two distinct layers of haze -- one about 50 miles (80 kilometers) above the surface and the other at an altitude of about 30 miles (50 kilometers)." Before this picture, scientists didn't expect to see such haze more than 30 kilometers above the surface.
Other findings released today include preliminary indications that Pluto's atmospheric pressure has dropped sharply from early observations. This may indicate that the atmosphere is in the process of freezing and falling to Pluto's surface. Finally, new close-up pictures of the surface transmitted back to Earth show direct evidence of nitrogen ice floes reminiscent of glacier movement on Earth. The dwarf planet also seems to be rich in methane ice and carbon dioxide ice.
Other findings released today include preliminary indications that Pluto's atmospheric pressure has dropped sharply from early observations. This may indicate that the atmosphere is in the process of freezing and falling to Pluto's surface. Finally, new close-up pictures of the surface transmitted back to Earth show direct evidence of nitrogen ice floes reminiscent of glacier movement on Earth. The dwarf planet also seems to be rich in methane ice and carbon dioxide ice.
I suppose I could do the math, but since I'm lazy... if it were possible for you to be standing on the daylight side of Pluto, does anyone know how bright/dark would it be? Is there enough light that you'd be able to see the terrain, at least dimly?
#DeleteChrome
Freezing and falling to Pluto's surface... if you were that far from the sun, you'd do it to.
filled with micro-aggression.
Pluto haze all in our brains
Latest readings don't seem the same
An exciting time, you all agree
For studyin' exometeorology
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Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
Sadly, the haze is reddish-brown, rather than Purple Haze.
Really? I mean, fucking really? Everyone gnu that penguins saw "awk". Torvalds sed so.
New Horizons' communication channel is very slow. About 1 killobit (not kilobyte) per second. My guess is they don't really have more data to "release" yet.
Can't upgrade the transmitters on the New Horizons spacecraft, which due to power constraints can only transmit 2 Kb/s (bits, not bytes) at most. The only reason we have pictures at all is because the PI recognized the need for something to put on the front page of the New York Times to represent what has happened. They're getting a trickle of data, most of which is scientific in nature. For now, up until late September, we'll have to content ourselves with the few extremely pretty JPEGs that were sent back ahead of some of the other instruments' data.
Ultraviolent sunlight chemically converts hazes into tholins, the dark hydrocarbons that color Pluto’s surface.
Did we find Clockwork Orange?
Silence is a state of mime.
Is anyone else embarrassed that NASA uses miles as its primary unit of measure?
-- I was raised on the command line, bitch
It has an atmosphere at all.
"When Pluto is closer to the Sun in its orbit, the warmth from the Sun heats up the frozen ices of nitrogen, methane and carbon monoxide on Pluto's surface. These ices vaporize and form a temporary atmosphere. When Pluto moves farther from the Sun, the atmosphere freezes and falls back onto Pluto's surface."
http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech...
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
Because you're too proud of your ignorance to google that
Actually I didn't google something I didn't know I should google to get the answer of a question I ignored it had to be asked.
New Horizons can transmit at most 1 kilobit per second. 1 kilobit is only 125 bytes.
And you can be proud. That's actually two transmitters at 1kb/s. And that's not really 1kb/8 usable bytes, ie 125, as you seem to ignore about control bits and other layer 2 necessary bits...
Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
Pluto's orbit is the most eccentric of any planet (or former planet :). Its distance from the Sun varies from about 30 AU to 49 AU. Any planet with that kind of eccentricity would have considerable climate change as it traveled along it's orbit.
From the photos it looks like the mountains have pushed up through the ice. I wonder if that is how the 'Moated Mountain" formed, nitrogen ice eroding the geology.
I have to say this is an appropriate use of the word 'amazing' - Thank you NASA (and the American taxpayer)
My ism, it's full of beliefs.
If you don't show appreciation, you deserve Comcast
Table-ized A.I.
The best explanation I've read for the youth of the surface is that Pluto's elliptical orbit results in a heat-and-cool cycle that pumps semi-liquid and/or soft frozen gasses around.
The relative densities between different materials changes during the near/far cycle, causing push-pull action that gradually squeezes and pumps shit around.
Table-ized A.I.
Jupiter would be able to mug and beat the shit out of everybody, including Saturn. Pluto may have an advantage in being too small to notice among the carnage.
Table-ized A.I.
"1 killobit".
Using frequencies lower than infra dead, presumably.
H/T to Douglas Adams, RIP.
"Wait. Something's happening. It's opening up! My God, it's full of apricots!"
NASA releases one picture a day. Either the hard is too old or the soft is too slow (or the staff is incompetent). Please upgrade something!
Photoshop takes time.
Anyone have a mirror of this stuff?
== Jez ==
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