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'Spectacular' Images of Pluto Captured

Posted: 2007-10-13 21:55:50
Filed Under: Science News
Space.com


(Oct. 12) - New images of Pluto and its moons are among the sharpest ever made, astronomers announced Friday.

Pluto, long called a planet, was downgraded last year to "dwarf planet" status by the International Astronomical Union. It is so far away that no clear pictures of it exist.

The new images are 20 times brighter than those taken of Pluto 30 years ago when its large moon Charon was discovered. The resulting snapshots are expected to bring astronomers closer to estimating the sizes of Pluto's satellites, Nix, Hydra and Charon.

"Several favorable factors occurred simultaneously to yield these spectacular images of the Pluto system," said astronomer David Tholen, who performed the observations during an early September evening with one of Mauna Kea's twin Keck telescopes.

Tholen relied on the adaptive optics system of Keck, which compensates for turbulence from Earth's atmosphere that typically blurs the light from celestial bodies. In addition, Pluto was at its maximum brightness that night, giving the adaptive optics "stellar" conditions.

He took 16 images of the system and combined them into a single picture, resulting in clear views of Nix and Hydra, Pluto's small satellites that were discovered in 2005 with the Hubble Space Telescope.

"It is our intent to obtain several more images of the Pluto system, hopefully with this same level of quality, so that we can track Nix and Hydra completely around Pluto several times," Tholen said.

The sharp images will show precise positions of the satellites, which will allow astronomers to detect tiny displacements caused by their mutual gravitational tugs. The measurements can be translated into more precise masses for Nix and Hydra.

"Once the masses are in hand, we'll be able to say something more definitive about how big these new satellites are," Tholen explained.

Astronomers have estimated that Nix and Hydra are less than 62 miles in diameter, compared with 753 miles (1,212 kilometers) for Charon and about 1,429 miles for Pluto.

The more definitive measurements are important for scientists planning the 2015 flyby of Pluto with NASA's New Horizons spacecraft. "Something as simple as selecting the proper exposure time to snap images of Nix and Hydra with New Horizons depends on knowing how big they are and how reflective their surfaces are," Tholen said. "One of our goals is to have those answers well in advance of the flyby."

2007-10-13 19:45:11
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Recent Comments

1 - 10 of 3844
3844 comments

buzncuzn1 10:04:09 PM Oct 16 2007

wake up dammit....TATER TOTS ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF BLACK HOLES PEOPLE ! ! !
DOGS ARE LIVING WITH CATS.....RAP BECOMES SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE AS AN ART FORM....AL QAEDA IS A CHARITABLE NON PROFIT ORGANIZTAION (well..maybe that is over reaching a bit)

buzncuzn1 10:00:04 PM Oct 16 2007

Ya know....at the heart of every black hole in the universe is an Ore-Ida Tater Tot.
Crunchy goodness knows no bounds in vast expanse of this universe,,,MMMMMM GOOD. Now on that sack of corn dogs ! ! ! !

laptopchels 05:27:49 PM Oct 16 2007

Why does everybody have to be so speculative about everything? Whatever happened to looking at things in space and wondering if we're alone here or not??

Oo TOny toAn oO 02:38:44 PM Oct 16 2007

there is proof that God exist, but your vision is blinded so you cannot see.

rwnamvet68 10:44:00 PM Oct 15 2007

I see that this thread is long dead.
Well, if anyone eslse visits.......
Find out what NASA is hiding, and what your Government does NOT want you to know.

http://www.returnofplanet-x.com

Believing it is not my concern, but getting the word out by any means.........is.
Draw your own conclusion

rwnamvet68 10:39:00 PM Oct 15 2007

Mlmmoore8 06:18:46 AM Oct 15 2007 when God wants us to see close up pictures of Pluto he will allow NASA to provide those pictures, until then keep your opinions about science to yourself.

This whole article is about SCIENCE, not God. So keep your opinions about GOD out of this thread and go where your opinions apply.
What you just said holds no logic and leaves me bewildered......

simransaxena 01:26:32 PM Oct 15 2007

But first, there'd have to be a god. No proof of any god so far.
>>>

Oo TOny toAn oO 12:51:10 PM Oct 15 2007

maybe God created science for us to figure out?

plateframe 01:14:12 PM Oct 15 2007

oops....should be spectrometry.

plateframe 01:10:31 PM Oct 15 2007

Creationguy1: Determining what the column is made of is relatively simple using spectometry. As far as proof of stars forming...well that's another story. It's assumed that gravity would condense the cloud of gases into objects that, if sufficiently large, would begin the process of nuclear fusion and become stars. Since this process would take eons of time it cannot be observed.

Oo TOny toAn oO 12:51:10 PM Oct 15 2007

maybe God created science for us to figure out?

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