| |
| Ultimi arrivi - Pluto and Charon: The "Double Planet" |
ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-Pluto-nh_01_stern_05_pluto_hazenew-PCF-LXTT-IPF-0.jpgFarewell to Pluto - Part I (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)110 visiteEven though it is (just slightly) unevenly backlit by the Sun, Pluto’s Atmosphere shows its "foggy" silhouette like a Luminous Halo in this beautiful image taken by the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft around midnight (EDT) on July, 15, 2015.
This global portrait of the Plutonian Atmosphere was captured when the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft was already about 1,25 Million Miles (such as approx. 2.011.675 Million KiloMeters) away from Pluto, and it shows us Atmospherical Structures (quite similar, in our opinion, as IPF, to the ones visible all around the Saturnian moon Titan) as small as roughly 12 miles (approx. 19,312 Km) across. The image, which has been received on Earth on July, 23, 2015, is displayed with the North Pole of Pluto at the top of the frame.
The image (which is an Original NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft's b/w and NON Map-Projected frame published on the NASA - Mew Horizons Page of July, 24, 2015 and with the ID n. nh_01_stern_05_pluto_hazenew) has been additionally processed, magnified to aid the visibility of the details, contrast enhanced and sharpened, Gamma corrected and then colorized (according to an educated guess carried out by Dr Paolo C. Fienga-LXTT-IPF) in Absolute Natural Colors (such as the colors that a normal human eye would actually perceive if someone were onboard the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft and then looked ahead, towards the Dwarf-Planet Pluto), by using an original technique created - and, in time, dramatically improved - by the Lunar Explorer Italia Team.MareKromiumSet 24, 2015
|
|
ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-Pluto-nh_01_stern_05_pluto_hazenew-PCF-LXTT-IPF-1.jpgFarewell to Pluto - Part II (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)89 visiteEven though it is (just slightly) unevenly backlit by the Sun, Pluto’s Atmosphere shows its "foggy" silhouette like a Luminous Halo in this beautiful Extra Detail Magnification (or "EDM", for short) obtained from a Contextual Image taken by the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft around midnight (EDT) on July, 15, 2015 (and shown in yesterday's APOD).
This partial portrait of the Plutonian Atmosphere was captured when the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft was already about 1,25 Million Miles (such as approx. 2.011.675 Million KiloMeters) away from Pluto, and it shows us the most illuminated Atmospherical Structures (quite similar, in our opinion, as IPF, to the ones visible all around the Saturnian moon Titan) as small as roughly 12 miles (approx. 19,312 Km) across. The image, which has been received on Earth on July, 23, 2015, is displayed with the North Pole of Pluto at the top of the frame.
The image (which is a crop taken from an Original NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft's b/w and NON Map-Projected frame published on the NASA - Mew Horizons Page of July, 24, 2015 and with the ID n. nh_01_stern_05_pluto_hazenew) has been additionally processed, magnified to aid the visibility of the details, contrast enhanced and sharpened, Gamma corrected and then colorized (according to an educated guess carried out by Dr Paolo C. Fienga-LXTT-IPF) in Absolute Natural Colors (such as the colors that a normal human eye would actually perceive if someone were onboard the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft and then looked ahead, towards the Dwarf-Planet Pluto), by using an original technique created - and, in time, dramatically improved - by the Lunar Explorer Italia Team.MareKromiumSet 24, 2015
|
|
ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-Pluto-PIA19948-PCF-LXTT-IPF.jpg15 Minutes after Pluto - Large View (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)65 visiteJust 15 minutes after its Closest Approach to Pluto - which occurred on July, 14, 2015 -, the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft looked back toward the Sun and captured this simply beautiful Near-Sunset View of the rugged, Icy Mountains and flat Ice Plains extending all over around and to Pluto's Horizon and Terminator Line.
The smooth expanse of the Icy Plains which have (so far) been informally named Sputnik Planum (watch to the right - Dx - of the picture) is flanked to the West (left - Sx) by rugged Mountains that reach up an altitude of approx. 11.000 feet (such as, roughly, 3352,8 meters), including the (even in this case, so far) informally named Norgay Montes (visible in the foreground) and the Hillary Montes, visible on the Skyline (---> Outer Edge/Horizon of Pluto). To the right (Dx), such as to the East of Sputnik Planum, some rougher (---> highly irregular) Terrain is cut by - what they appear to be - Glaciers. Furthermore, the backlighting, highlights several Layers of Haze in Pluto's tenuous - but quite uniform and highly distended - Atmosphere.
This image was taken from a distance of about 11.000 miles (such as approx. 17.702,74 Km) from the Surface of Pluto; finally, the whole scene is roughly 780 miles (about 1.255,2852 Km) wide.
The image (which is an Original NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft's b/w and NON Map-Projected frame published on the NASA - Planetary Photojournal with the ID n. 19948) has been additionally processed, magnified to aid the visibility of the details, contrast enhanced and sharpened, Gamma corrected and then colorized (according to an educated guess carried out by Dr Paolo C. Fienga-LXTT-IPF) in Absolute Natural Colors (such as the colors that a normal human eye would actually perceive if someone were onboard the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft and then looked outside, towards the Dwarf-Planet Pluto), by using an original technique created - and, in time, dramatically improved - by the Lunar Explorer Italia Team.MareKromiumSet 22, 2015
|
|
ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-Pluto-PIA19936-PCF-LXTT-IPF.jpgSputnik Planum and Surroundings (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team) 63 visiteThis beautiful picture is, in fact, an Image-Mosaic which has been created by using (---> putting together) several High-Resolution frames of the Dwarf-Planet Pluto, that were all sent back to Earth by the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft in the days going from September 5 to 7, 2015. The mosaic, as you can easily see, is dominated by the bright Icy Plains which have (so far) been informally named Sputnik Planum.
However, the Image-Mosaic also features (---> shows) a tremendous variety of other (and, Geologically speaking, completely different) Landscapes that surrounds Sputnik Planum (---> such as a number of areas of Pluto which we have already shown you in the APODs of Semptember 14, 15 and 16, 2015).
The smallest visible Surface Features here are roughly 0,5 miles (such as approx. 0,80467 Km) across, and the Mosaic - in its entirety - covers a Plutonian Region that is about 1000 miles (such as, roughly, 1609,34 Km) wide. The images forming the Mosaic were taken as the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft flew past Pluto on July 14, 2015, from a distance of about 50.000 miles (such as approx. 80.467 Km).
The image (which is an Original NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft's b/w and NON Map-Projected frame published on the NASA - Planetary Photojournal with the ID n. PIA 19936) has been additionally processed, magnified to aid the visibility of the details, contrast enhanced and sharpened, Gamma corrected and then colorized (according to an educated guess carried out by Dr Paolo C. Fienga-LXTT-IPF) in Absolute Natural Colors (such as the colors that a normal human eye would actually perceive if someone were onboard the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft and then looked ahead, towards the Dwarf-Planet Pluto), by using an original technique created - and, in time, dramatically improved - by the Lunar Explorer Italia Team.MareKromiumSet 22, 2015
|
|
ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-Pluto-PIA19947-PCF-LXTT-IPF.jpg15 Minutes after Pluto - Closer View (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)74 visiteJust 15 minutes after its Closest Approach to Pluto - which occurred on July, 14, 2015 -, the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft looked back toward the Sun and captured this simply beautiful Near-Sunset View of the rugged, Icy Mountains and flat Ice Plains extending all over around and to Pluto's Horizon and Terminator Line.
The smooth expanse of the Icy Plains which have (so far) been informally named Sputnik Planum (watch to the right - Dx - of the picture) is flanked to the West (left - Sx) by rugged Mountains that reach up an altitude of approx. 11.000 feet (such as, roughly, 3352,8 meters), including the (even in this case, so far) informally named Norgay Montes (visible in the foreground) and the Hillary Montes, visible on the Skyline (---> Outer Edge/Horizon of Pluto). To the right (Dx), such as to the East of Sputnik Planum, some rougher (---> highly irregular) Terrain is cut by - what they appear to be - Glaciers. Furthermore, the backlighting, highlights several Layers of Haze in Pluto's tenuous - but quite uniform and highly distended - Atmosphere.
This image was taken from a distance of about 11.000 miles (such as approx. 17.702,74 Km) from the Surface of Pluto; finally, the whole scene is roughly 230 miles (about 370,1482 Km) wide.
The image (which is an Original NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft's b/w and NON Map-Projected frame published on the NASA - Planetary Photojournal with the ID n. 19947) has been additionally processed, magnified to aid the visibility of the details, contrast enhanced and sharpened, Gamma corrected and then colorized (according to an educated guess carried out by Dr Paolo C. Fienga-LXTT-IPF) in Absolute Natural Colors (such as the colors that a normal human eye would actually perceive if someone were onboard the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft and then looked outside, towards the Dwarf-Planet Pluto), by using an original technique created - and, in time, dramatically improved - by the Lunar Explorer Italia Team.MareKromiumSet 22, 2015
|
|
ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-Pluto-PIA19937-PCF-LXTT-IPF.jpgSputnik Planum (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team) 78 visiteThis Synthetic Perspective view of Pluto, based on the latest High-Resolution images to be downlinked from the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft, shows us what you would see if you were approximately 1100 miles (such as about 1770,284 Km) above Pluto's Equatorial Area, looking North/East - over the dark/orangish and heavily cratered Region informally named Cthulhu Regio - toward the bright, smooth, expanse of Icy Plains which have, for now, been informally called Sputnik Planum.
The entire expanse of Terrain seen in this image is roughly 1100 miles (such as about 1770,284 Km ) across. The images were taken as the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft flew past Pluto on July 14, 2015, from a distance of about 50.000 miles (such as approx. 80.467 Km).
The image (which is an Original NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft's b/w and NON Map-Projected frame published on the NASA - Planetary Photojournal with the ID n. PIA 19937) has been additionally processed, magnified to aid the visibility of the details, contrast enhanced and sharpened, Gamma corrected and then colorized (according to an educated guess carried out by Dr Paolo C. Fienga-LXTT-IPF) in Absolute Natural Colors (such as the colors that a normal human eye would actually perceive if someone were onboard the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft and then looked ahead, towards the Dwarf-Planet Pluto), by using an original technique created - and, in time, dramatically improved - by the Lunar Explorer Italia Team.MareKromiumSet 22, 2015
|
|
ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-Z-Pluto-lor_0299124574_0x632_sci_1-PCF-LXTT-IPF.jpgThe "White Heart" of Pluto (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)106 visiteA beautiful image, obtained by the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (or "LORRI", for short), located onboard the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft, when the probe was about 0,8 Million KiloMeters away from the Target. This frame, in our humble opinion, needs no comments at all: we, as IPF, have named it "The White Heart" of Pluto. And that is it. For now, of course...
The image (which is an Original NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft's b/w and NON Map-Projected frame published on the NASA - Mew Horizons LORRI Image Catalog with the ID n. lor_0299124574_0x632_sci_1) has been additionally processed, magnified to aid the visibility of the details, contrast enhanced and sharpened, Gamma corrected and then colorized (according to an educated guess carried out by Dr Paolo C. Fienga-LXTT-IPF) in Absolute Natural Colors (such as the colors that a normal human eye would actually perceive if someone were onboard the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft and then looked ahead, towards the Dwarf-Planet Pluto), by using an original technique created - and, in time, dramatically improved - by the Lunar Explorer Italia Team.MareKromiumSet 22, 2015
|
|
ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-Charon-PIA19709-PCF-LXTT-IPF-1.jpgThe Dark North Polar Regions of Charon (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)60 visiteAs you can see very well here, in today's APOD, remarkable new details of Pluto's largest moon Charon are revealed in this wonderful Extra Detail Magnification (or "EDM", for short) that shows us the North Polar Regions of Charon itself - the original Contextual Picture was taken from the New Horizons' Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (or "LORRI", for short), late on July 13, 2015, from a distance of about 289.000 miles (such as approx. 465.099,26 Km) from the Surface of this - however - unusually-looking Celestial Body.
Generally speaking, the Mission Scientists are surprised by the apparent lack of Impact Craters on Charon. But, in particular, all over Charon's North Polar Regions (that is VERY WELL seen here), a dark marking - which was already prominent in the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft' approach images - is now showing a diffuse (---> lighter in color) Boundary, suggesting that it could be a (thin?) Deposit of Dark Material (whose nature and origin are still - and, maybe, will remain - unknown).
So, what are we talking about? A North Polar Cap made out of Frozen Hydrocarbons? Or, perhaps, a Layer of a powdered dark mineral - like Coal - which, eons after eons, fell over a Surface of bright Water Ice North Polar Cap and then turned its color (almost) completely black? Who knows...
The image has been compressed to reduce its file size for transmission to Earth. In high-contrast areas of the original Contextual Image, Surface Features as small as about 3 miles (approx. 4,828 Km) across can be seen. Some lower-contrast detail is obscured by the compression of the image, which may make some areas appear smoother than they really are. The uncompressed version still resides in New Horizons' Computer Memory and is scheduled to be transmitted at a later date. Remember that the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft traveled more than three billion miles over nine-and-a-half years to reach the Plutonian System.
The image (which is a crop taken from an Original NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft's falsely colored and NON Map-Projected frame published on the NASA - Planetary Phojournal with the ID n. 19709) has been additionally processed, magnified to aid the visibility of the details, contrast enhanced and sharpened, Gamma corrected and then re-colorized (according to an educated guess carried out by Dr Paolo C. Fienga-LXTT-IPF) in Absolute Natural Colors (such as the colors that a normal human eye would actually perceive if someone were onboard the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft and then looked ahead, towards the Plutonian moon Charon), by using an original technique created - and, in time, dramatically improved - by the Lunar Explorer Italia Team.MareKromiumSet 22, 2015
|
|
ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-Charon-PIA19709-PCF-LXTT-IPF.jpgCharon (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)86 visiteRemarkable new details of Pluto's largest moon Charon are revealed in this wonderful image from New Horizons' Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (or "LORRI", for short), that was taken late on July 13, 2015, from a distance of about 289.000 miles (such as approx. 465.099,26 Km). A swath of Cliffs and Troughs stretches about 600 miles (approx. 1609,34 Km) from left (Sx) to right (Dx), suggesting the occurrence, in a remote past, of a widespread fracturing of Charon's Crust (likely a result of internal processes). At the upper righ (Dx) of the framet, along the moon's curving edge, there is a Canyon that is estimated to be approx. 4 to 6 miles (such as about 6,437 to roughly 9,656 Km) deep.
The Mission Scientists are surprised by the apparent lack of Impact Craters on Charon. South of the moon's Equator, at the bottom of this image, Terrain is lit by the slanting Rays of the Sun, and thus creating shadows that make it easier to distinguish its real Topography. Even here, however, relatively few Impact Craters are visible, and this circumstance indicates a (relatively speaking) young Surface that, probably, has been often reshaped by Geologic Activites.
In Charon's North Polar Regions, a dark marking - which was already prominent in the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft' approach images - is now seen to have a diffuse (---> lighter in color) Boundary, suggesting that it could be a thin Deposit of Dark Material. Underlying, it is a distinct, sharply bounded, Angular Surface Feature; higher resolution images still to come are expected to shed more light on this truly enigmatic Region.
The image (which is an Original NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft's falsely colored and NON Map-Projected frame published on the NASA - Planetary Phojournal with the ID n. 19709) has been additionally processed, magnified to aid the visibility of the details, contrast enhanced and sharpened, Gamma corrected and then re-colorized (according to an educated guess carried out by Dr Paolo C. Fienga-LXTT-IPF) in Absolute Natural Colors (such as the colors that a normal human eye would actually perceive if someone were onboard the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft and then looked ahead, towards the Plutonian moon Charon), by using an original technique created - and, in time, dramatically improved - by the Lunar Explorer Italia Team.MareKromiumSet 22, 2015
|
|
ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-Nix-PIA19847-PCF-LXTT-IPF.jpgNix (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)60 visitePluto's tiny moon Nix (from the Latin word for "Snow"), is shown here in Absolute Natural Colors (as it was imaged by the NASA - New Horizons's Spacecraft "Ralph" instrument). This Celestial Body seems to have a global pinkish color, as well as a relatively large orange/ reddish spot that is located in its Southern Regions - perhaps, in our humble opinion, as IPF, a huge and deep Surface Depression - a "spot" that has - obviously - attracted the interest of the Mission Scientists.
The visual data shown here were obtained on the morning of July 14, 2015, and they were received on Earth on July 18.
At the time when this specific observation was taken, the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft was about 102.000 miles (such as approx. 164.152,68 Km) from Nix. The image shows Surface Features as small as approximately 2 miles (about 3,218 Km) across on Nix, which is estimated to be about 26 miles (such as approx. 41,84284 Km) long and, roughly, 22 miles (such as about 35,40548 Km) wide.
The image (which is an Original NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft's falsely colored and NON Map-Projected frame published on the NASA - Planetary Photojournal with the ID n. 19847) has been additionally processed, magnified to aid the visibility of the details, contrast enhanced and sharpened, Gamma corrected and then re-colorized (according to an educated guess carried out by Dr Paolo C. Fienga-LXTT-IPF) in Absolute Natural Colors (such as the colors that a normal human eye would actually perceive if someone were onboard the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft and then looked ahead, towards the Plutonian moon Nix), by using an original technique created - and, in time, dramatically improved - by the Lunar Explorer Italia Team.MareKromiumSet 22, 2015
|
|
ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-Hydra-PIA19847-PCF-LXTT-IPF.jpgHydra (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)60 visitePluto's small, and highly irregularly shaped moon Hydra, is, finally (but just partly), revealed in this Absolute Natural Colors image taken from the NASA - New Horizons' Spacecraft LORRI instrument on July 14, 2015, from a distance of about 143.000 miles (such as approx. 230.135,62 Km). Surface Features as small as approx. 0,7 miles (such as about 1,26 Km) are visible on Hydra, which measures, roughly, 34 miles (approx. 54,71756 Km) in length.
The dark and elongated Surface Feature visible towards the South Pole of the moon could be - but we, as IPF, have no way to be sure) a huge Impact Crater, somohow conceptually similar, if you think about it, to the gigantic Stickney Crater which is located on the Martian moon Phobos.
The image (which is an Original NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft's b/w and NON Map-Projected frame published on the NASA - Planetary Photojournal with the ID n. 19847) has been additionally processed, magnified to aid the visibility of the details, contrast enhanced and sharpened, Gamma corrected and then colorized (according to an educated guess carried out by Dr Paolo C. Fienga-LXTT-IPF) in Absolute Natural Colors (such as the colors that a normal human eye would actually perceive if someone were onboard the NASA - New Horizons Spacecraft and then looked ahead, towards the Plutonian moon Hydra), by using an original technique created - and, in time, dramatically improved - by the Lunar Explorer Italia Team.MareKromiumSet 22, 2015
|
|
ZYZ-S-Pluto-P4-HST.jpgMore Moons for Pluto!101 visiteCaption NASA:"Nix and Hydra were first introduced to human eyes in Hubble Space Telescope images from May 2005, as Pluto's second and third known moons. Now Hubble images have revealed a fourth satellite for the icy, dwarf Planet.
Provisionally designated P4, it completes an orbit of Pluto in about 31 days. Presently Pluto's smallest and dimmest known moon, P4 is estimated to be 13 to 34 Km across. The newly discovered satellite was first spotted in Hubble observations from June 28, 2011, and later confirmed in a follow-up on July 3 and July 18. These two panels are composites of both the short and long exposures that include brighter Pluto itself along with Pluto's largest moon Charon.
Camera noise and image artifacts also show up in the long exposure segments. The Hubble observations were made while searching for faint Rings around the distant world in support of NASA's New Horizons mission, set to fly by the Pluto system in 2015".MareKromiumLug 23, 2011
|
|
| 76 immagini su 7 pagina(e) |
2 | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
