NASA
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Her work was fully automated and scheduled to the second. It could not be otherwise, since Pluto passed at a speed of approx. 14 km / s. Scientists have to patiently wait. Almost the entire 22 hours.
Only today just before the hour. 3am our time on Earth came first signal from the probe. The flight control center in the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University once again broke ovation.
Half an hour later, Alice Bowman told reporters: – Everything went according to plan. The probe itself has not launched any procedures (what would have happened if she had to go into safe mode). And that means in simple terms, that she was happy.
Pluto, discover yourself!
When in 1930. American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto, it was hardly a small speck in the picture with the telescope. Merged with the image of its moon Charon, which was discovered much later, only in 1978. Later, in the mid-90s, using the Hubble Space Telescope, which circulates in orbit above the Earth’s atmosphere veil, spotted the first details surface Pluto – dark and white spots.
Now, thanks to New Horizons finally see his face in all its glory. Soon we see the best images as small as barely 70 meters!
We just have to wait patiently until the probe will send stored in its memory photographs and data.
When the probe will send data?
The information gathered by the probe during a trip around Pluto will be transferred gradually. Little it takes, because the transmission rate is very low (approx. 1000 bits per second). The first packet of data (including the first compressed images) have been received on Wednesday and Thursday, the next – in the vicinity of the weekend. The rest of the data transmission starts only in September. Downloading them all would take scientists until more than a year.
As the pictures, even compressed, occupy a relatively large amount of space, so in the next few days probably get only a few of them. In today’s communications session probably will come no more one thing, but everyone is waiting for.
Where is the now Pluton
Since the discovery he had not yet do even half full revolution around the Sun, which lasts 248 years. Its orbit is highly flattened ellipse, which is approaching Pluto to our star at a distance of 4.5 billion km and out of a maximum of 7.5 billion kilometers. In 1989. He passed the time of closest approach of both celestial and from then on Pluto moves away from the sun. Now away from him, 4.8 billion km. Roughly the distance she had to overcome the New Horizons spacecraft.
The axis of rotation of Pluto is very inclined, like the axis of Uranus, and the north pole is now directed to the sun. In the northern hemisphere of the globe takes so very long summer (each season goes on there for about 80 years). Yet there is frost on it – minus 210 deg. C.
Only one cheek
Due to the fact that Pluto and Charon rotate slowly (once every 6.4 of our day), all the best quality pictures of closest approach will show the same hemispheres of the two globes. The opposite hemispheres have been imaged with the best resolution of 38 km per pixel few days before closest approach. This means that humanity will not see “other cheek” Pluto with a better resolution for many decades.
What we knew so far
The planets in our solar system clearly divided into two groups. The first four, small and rocky, are called terrestrial (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars). The next four, so-called. giants, are big balls of gases (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune).
Pluto is the farthest from the Sun, but its size and internal structure does not resemble neighboring giant planets or terrestrial planets. It is two times smaller than the smallest of the terrestrial planets – Mercury. Ba is much smaller than our Moon. And its interior – like nuclei of comets – the majority is made up of ice, rock przemieszanego with the matter.
Pluto also weighs very little. Shortly after the discovery of the globe it was thought that its mass equals the Earth. Over time, they lowered estimates on several occasions. In 1978. Charon was discovered and it turned out that what until now was taken for one planet, is actually a system of planet – the moon. After deduction of the weight of unusually high Charon, Pluto lost weight even more. Today, it is estimated his weight at just one five-hundredth the mass of the Earth. In 2006. International Astronomical Union Pluto enrolled for the new category of dwarf planets.
New Horizons has shown that some have very intriguing shape – regular, similar to the pentagon. We do not know what these structures – the plains and highlands. It is not known why different brightness. Perhaps the darker spots are some of the organic coating, which either existed from the beginning, or was created in the reactions when exposed to sunlight. New Horizons instruments identifying the chemical composition will help unravel the mystery.
Arctic on Pluto
The probe confirmed that Pluto has polar caps made of solidified methane and nitrogen. It has long been suspected, but only close up photos made it possible to distinguish the polar regions of decidedly darker belt at the equator.
Atmosphere dwarf
Shell gas surrounding the globe is growing, when Pluto is closer to the Sun – gases sublimate from its frozen surface. When it moves away from the star, the atmosphere freezes back. – Certainly there snow falls – says the head of the mission science professor. Alan Stern.
Is its moon Charon has an atmosphere too? We are not certain. We’ll find out when we come data collected during the flight. Poll Charon had the opportunity to observe the sun. The gaseous atmosphere should dispel some sunlight.
For now, researchers are intrigued that the two globes – Pluto and Charon – they look so different, at least in pictures from a distance of several million kilometers. The North Pole Charon is dark and Pluto for a change – clear. Nobody knows why.
How many moons has Pluto?
For now, we know of five. Charon is the largest of them. The rest was spotted by the Hubble Space Telescope. Nix and Hydra in 2005., And Kerberos and Styx – in 2011 and 2012. This meant that Pluto – to the surprise of scientists – has more natural satellites than Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars together! It was expected, therefore, that New Horizons spacecraft close discovers more moons, and perhaps, as suspected, perceive ring of dust and ice – like the one that surrounds Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus. But none of that – so far no indication of further satellites. – It’s one of the biggest surprises – says Alan Stern, a scientist with the New Horizons mission.
But reigns!
A few days ago, scientists gave the latest measurements, according to which Pluto is the largest in the so-called. Kuiper belt located beyond the orbit of Neptune, the last “proper” planet of our System. His “new” diameter is 2370 km (plus or minus 20 km), which means that the dwarf planet Eris, discovered in 2005. And escaping so far for a larger, somewhat inferior to him (to 2326 km in diameter).
But it is lighter
Zoom diameter of Pluto indicates, however, that its average density is less than it seemed, and so his interior contains proportionally more ice than rock. Dwarf planet Eris is still the most massive body in the Kuiper belt, because it has about 30 percent. greater mass than Pluto. It is not known why. This difference in the mass and density of Pluto and Eris is very puzzling and probably points to a different origin and history of these two worlds.
What next? Time to strip
After passing Pluto probe sailed on the water a little-known solar system. Basins in the area of the Kuiper belt, where circulates a lot of large and small bodies of rock and ice. Their existence guessed the first to Gerard Kuiper, a Dutch astronomer American origin. Because they are rather small body, very distant from Earth, for a long time they can not be seen even by the largest terrestrial telescopes. Indirect proof of their existence were a comet, which – like guessing – that’s where they are born, and from there migrate to the vicinity of Earth. It was only in the 90s by David Jewitt and Jane Luu discovered the first object in the area of the solar system, named 1992 QB1. Then I discovered there more ice asteroids. In 2005,. Recognized the record size of Eris, which has become one of the reasons for the degradation of Pluto from planet status. Currently, it is estimated that reside in this area hundreds of millions of small bodies with a diameter of approx. 20 km, as well as tens of thousands of quite considerable, whose diameter exceeds 100 km.
NASA now plans to direct New Horizons in the vicinity of one of the Kuiper asteroid belt. The Hubble telescope has found two candidates, distant travel for 2-3 years. Researchers in a few months will decide which of these probe will have a date. Perhaps also the New Horizons encounters a some unknown, new bodies. Perhaps because it manages to classify observations of Kuiper belt objects.
In the distant future, the New Horizons probe Voyager will follow suit, so it will fly a course that leads to the boundary of the heliosphere and beyond the solar system.
current platoon
New Horizons should run for some 20 years, which means the ability of even a large number of important research on the Kuiper belt. Its power source is a Radioisotope generator converts the current heat produced by radioactive decay … platoon.
Why do so many look for?
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