New Horizons Mission to Pluto
Discussion
ash73 said:
Amazing achievement to pinpoint something so small at such a vast distance and aim a spacecraft at it.
p.s. reinforces my view Pluto is a planet, it shouldn't be grouped with stuff like this
There are objects out there as big as Pluto too. This object was chosen because it was relatively easy to get to from Pluto - not because it was of stunning planetary significance.p.s. reinforces my view Pluto is a planet, it shouldn't be grouped with stuff like this
It may be lumpy.
It may look like a potato (or a peanut).
But I reckon it will mostly not be rock.
At the temperatures these distant objects exist, it is far more likely that it will be predominately water ice, with other ices and maybe some silicate pebbles thrown in. These are the key materials in the creation of the Solar System so it is good we are going to get a good look at one of these primordial objects.
It may look like a potato (or a peanut).
But I reckon it will mostly not be rock.
At the temperatures these distant objects exist, it is far more likely that it will be predominately water ice, with other ices and maybe some silicate pebbles thrown in. These are the key materials in the creation of the Solar System so it is good we are going to get a good look at one of these primordial objects.
Eric Mc said:
It may be lumpy.
It may look like a potato (or a peanut).
But I reckon it will mostly not be rock.
At the temperatures these distant objects exist, it is far more likely that it will be predominately water ice, with other ices and maybe some silicate pebbles thrown in. These are the key materials in the creation of the Solar System so it is good we are going to get a good look at one of these primordial objects.
At the temperatures seen at that distance it's possible for even hydrogen to liquefy - not that I think they'll find oceans of liquid hydrogen on it It may look like a potato (or a peanut).
But I reckon it will mostly not be rock.
At the temperatures these distant objects exist, it is far more likely that it will be predominately water ice, with other ices and maybe some silicate pebbles thrown in. These are the key materials in the creation of the Solar System so it is good we are going to get a good look at one of these primordial objects.
Could easily see frozen nitrogen thoughash73 said:
Einion Yrth said:
Pluto /is/ a planet, a dwarf planet.
Officially dwarf planets are not planets. It's like saying dwarf rabbits are not rabbits.Obviously the correct answer is they are a sub-classification of planets (like rocky, gas giant & ice giant), but we have to wait for officialdom to acknowledge its mistake.
Meanwhile a generation of kids are being taught there are only 8 planets.
Let's just concentrate on what we find out about Ultima Thule.
Regarding the slowness of the issuing of pictures - I think that was expected because of the extreme distance and low bit rate of data transmission.
Eric Mc said:
Regarding the slowness of the issuing of pictures - I think that was expected because of the extreme distance and low bit rate of data transmission.
It took 15 months to download the data from the Pluto encounter, at a rate as low as 1kbps - expect a similar data rate when downloading the 7GB of data taken during the Ultima Thule flyby.Also, from 4th to the 6th of Jan signals will be blocked by the Sun
Edited by MartG on Wednesday 2nd January 18:36
Eric Mc said:
It's a bowling skittle
Yeah, it is definitely elongate and rotating. I poked fun at the BBC earlier but it would be nice to see the first few "high" res images. As far as I can tell two windows have gone by for transmissions and not heard anything from the team. Getting slightly worried
I'm a bit of a joker on here, hope you do not mind, but would really like to see a good result here. Science is all that matters.
Meanwhile, while waiting....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNLhxKpfCnA
Gandahar said:
As far as I can tell two windows have gone by for transmissions and not heard anything from the team. Getting slightly worried
I think there is a possibility that, due to the uncertainty of the precise distance to Ultima Thule, New Horizons might have actually failed to frame the object in shot on the high-resolution images as it went past. I'm sure we'll find out soon enough.MartG said:
Eric Mc said:
Regarding the slowness of the issuing of pictures - I think that was expected because of the extreme distance and low bit rate of data transmission.
It took 15 months to download the data from the Pluto encounter, at a rate as low as 1kbps - expect a similar data rate when downloading the 7GB of data taken during the Ultima Thule flyby.Also, form 4th to the 6th of Jan signals will be blocked by the Sun
ash73 said:
We'll know in an hour or so, press conference at 19:00.
Indeed, as eharding said this was a very fast flypast and although close in to get high resolution it did mean the prior tracking, with adjustments, had to be spot on. Let's see how it pans out.
This is like the Mars 7 minutes of terror in ultra slo-mo
Two whiter spots in the "head" crater remind me a bit of those two white patches on Ceres, which are assumed to be ice or salt. I assume might be frozen material here. Maybe, going to be interesting to see the data come in slowly.
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/16A24/...
Hopefully we will see a higher res image before the sun gets in the way.
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/16A24/...
Hopefully we will see a higher res image before the sun gets in the way.
Edited by Gandahar on Wednesday 2nd January 19:40
Gandahar said:
MartG said:
Crosseye stereo pic
Great pic. I do wonder what that white bit is around the neck, it looks like someone using icing sugar after their baking experiment went wrong.Gassing Station | Science! | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff