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Pluto’s Close EncounterMeredith L. Rawls, PhD Candidate Department of Astronomy New Mexico State University @merrdiff
Artist’s Impression of the New Horizons Spacecraft approaching Pluto
June 25, 2015
Discovery timeline• Neptune - 1846
• Pluto - 1930
• Charon - 1978
• Nix, Hydra - 2005
• Kerberos - 2011
• Styx - 2012
!
Clyde Tombaugh’s legacy• Took photographic plates at Lowell Observatory in
1930 and “blinked” them to search for Planet X
• Moved to Las Cruces in the 1940s, helped form the NMSU Astronomy Dept in the 1970s
Can you discover Pluto?!
!
Jan 23, 1930
Can you discover Pluto?!
!
Jan 29, 1930
A chance discovery• Supposed perturbations in Uranus’ and Neptune’s
orbit predicted the existence of “Planet X”
• Models suggested a 6-Earth mass planet at 43 AU
• Found Pluto instead (0.002-Earth mass, 30–50 AU)
VenetiaBurneyPhairPercival Lowell
ElizabethLangdonWilliams
“Best Image” of Pluto
How big? How far?
How big? How far?
!How big? How far?
How big? How far?
How big? How far?
Image from 2006, when only three moons were known
Pluto facts
Family Portrait
New HorizonsLaunch: January 19, 2006
• Apollo to Moon = 3 days • New Horizons to Moon =
9 hours • Could travel from NY to
LA in 4 minutes
• Speed set by launch and Jupiter slingshot
• Propulsion is for course corrections, not speed
New Horizons is really fast!
Inst
rum
ents
Communications• It’s hard to get data from Pluto! • Can downlink data OR take photos
• Last navigation data, July 12 • “Fail Safe” downlinks, July 12-13 • “E-Health 1” near-flyby image, July 13 • —24 hours of terror— • “Phone Home” post-flyby beep, July 14 • “First Look” images sent July 15-16 • “High Priority” data sent July 17-20 • No new images until September 14
(busy with other instruments) • Full set of low-quality images, Sep-Nov • All high-quality images, Nov + 1 year
SIMULATIONS
SIMULATIONS
Latest Images
April 2015
Latest Images
May 2015
Latest Images
Latest Images
Latest Images
(this is a GIF; if it doesn’t play, go here: http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2015/06230439-new-horizons-update.html)
Latest Images
Latest Images
Lower-resolution MVIC color image used to
colorize a higher-resolution June 21 LORRI image of
Pluto and Charon
Today’s Latest Image!
• Celestial body that orbits the Sun
• Massive enough to be spherical
• Has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit
What’s in a name?
Planet
• Celestial body that orbits the Sun
• Massive enough to be spherical
• Has NOT cleared the neighborhood around its orbit
• Is not a satellite (moon)
What’s in a name?
Dwarf Planet
What’s in a name?
Pluto is in good company
Stay tuned!• See all the latest images:
http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/soc/Pluto-Encounter/
• This is probably the only time Pluto will be visited by a spacecraft in our lifetime
• We are just beginning to answer questions about our own Solar System, and all the while discovering new ones!
