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| Piú viste - Pluto and Charon: The "Double Planet" |
ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-Pluto02-New_Horizons-1080-Annotated.jpgApproaching Pluto (RAW and Annotated Frame)67 visiteDa "NASA - Astronomy Picture of the Day" dell'11 Luglio 2015.
"Pluto is coming into focus. As the robotic New Horizons Spacecraft bears down on this unexplored world of the distant Solar System, new Features on its Surface are becoming evident.
In the displayed image, an unusual polygonal structure roughly 200 Km wide is visible on the left (Sx) while, just below it, a relatively complex Terrain runs diagonally across the "Dwarf Planet".
New Horizon's images and data on these structures will likely be studied for years to come in an effort to better understand the Geologic History of Pluto and our Solar System. After suffering a troublesome glitch last week, New Horizons will make its historic Fly-By of Pluto and its moons on Tuesday".
Tutto passato. Tutto ok. Ed il Viaggio continua.....MareKromium
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ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-Z-New_Horizons_-_Map.pngIn the Kuiper's Belt...66 visiteSfuggire nell'Infinito "Oltre": ecco la "Missione" di New Horizons.
Plutone é passato, assieme alle Sue (almeno 5) Lune Naturali. Ora é la volta di imbattersi in altri oggetti che, nella Notte Eterna e nel gelo ultra-plutoniano, si librano lungo orbite tanto precise, quanto indefinibili nella loro Natura Prima.
Una Missione Meravigliosa. Come ai tempi delle Sonde (---> probes) Voyager e Pioneer...
Il resto ("Scienza" inclusa), son solo chiacchiere: anche l'Immaginazione e l'Immaginario contano, almeno a parere di chi scrive.MareKromium
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ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-Z-Pluto-h-Plutonian_Moons-HST-1280.jpgPlutonian Moons: Kerberos and Styx (Cerbero e Stige)66 visiteDa "NASA - Picture of the Day" dell'8 Luglio 2013.
"Pluto's newly discovered moons now have names.
Known previously as P4 and P5, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) has now given the fourth and fifth discovered moons of Pluto the names Kerberos and Styx.
The small moons were discovered in 2011 and 2012 by the Hubble Space Telescope in preparation for the close passing of the New Horizons Spacecraft by Pluto in 2015.
Kerberos is named after the many headed dog in Greek mythology that guards the entrance to the so-called "Underworld" (Hell?!?), while Styx is named after the goddess who overlooks the mythological river that runs between the Earth and the Underworld.
Both monikers are related to the name of Pluto, who rules the mythical Region. Because their reflectivity is unknown, the size of each moon is quite uncertain - but each is crudely estimated to be about 20 Km in diameter.
The robotic New Horizons Spacecraft is on schedule to pass by Pluto in 2015 and it will provide the first clear images of the dwarf planet and its companions". MareKromium
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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.MareKromium
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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.MareKromium
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ZY-Pluto_s System.jpgThe "colors" of Pluto's System62 visiteThe latest NASA HST images of Pluto's two newly discovered satellites reveal that the new moons have the same color as Charon.
All three of Pluto's satellites reflect the Sun's light equally across the visible spectrum and have essentially the same color as Earth's moon. Pluto, in contrast, has a reddish hue.
The common color of the moons further reinforces the idea that all three moons were born from a single titanic collision between Pluto and another similarly sized Kuiper Belt object billions of years ago.
The color exposures were made on March 2nd in both red (F606W) and blue (F435W) filters using Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. The Pluto team hopes to make further observations in more color filters to more precisely characterize the moons.
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ZX-Pluto_s System.jpgPluto's System61 visiteThis pair of NASA HST images shows the motion of Pluto's satellites between February 15th and March 2nd, 2006.
Both images were taken through a red filter (F606W) using the High Resolution Channel (HRC) of the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). During this 15-day period, Pluto's newly-discovered satellite S/2005 P 2 (P2 for short) moved counterclockwise from the noon position to the 5 o'clock position, while the other newly-discovered satellite S/2005 P 1 (P1 for short) moved counterclockwise from the 1 o'clock position to the 7 o'clock position. During that same period, Pluto's much larger and closer moon, Charon, started near the 2 o'clock position, made more than two complete counterclockwise revolutions around Pluto and ended up near the 10 o' clock position. The motions of P1 and P2 confirm that these satellites are orbiting Pluto in the same plane as Charon's orbit, as expected if all the 3 moons were created during a single - and gigantic - impact event.
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ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-Pluto01-New_Horizons-1080.jpgApproaching Pluto (RAW and Unnotated Frame)61 visitesi vedano i commenti al frame che segue.MareKromium
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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.MareKromium
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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.MareKromium
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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.MareKromium
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ZYZ-Q-PlutoLatestColors.jpgThe "true" colors of Pluto (another interpretation)58 visiteUno studio sui possibili colori autentici di Plutone, realizzato dal bravo e modesto Ricercatore Don Davis, di cui abbiamo già apprezzato svariati studi ed elaborazioni sui "Colori del Sistema Solare" (Marte e Venere, in maniera particolare, sono - secondo noi - i suoi lavori più belli e riusciti).
Caption originale:"Pluto seems to have intriguing surface details, with pronounced contrast between white and yellow brown Regions. These regional contrasts have been largely detected by measurements of light changes as Pluto was eclipsed by its large satellite Charon, in the late 1980's. The albedo of Pluto ranges from 0,49 to 0,66, while darker more neutral colored Charon averages about 0,37".
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