Where New Horizons is

[orin stepanek]

seems to be a geometric patern on Pluto's surface; but to me it doesn't resemble a heart shape! more squared off: I'd say!

[neufer]

seems to be a geometric patern on Pluto's surface; but to me it doesn't resemble a heart shape!
more squared off: I'd say!

Where the heck have you been, orin

I was worried that the Pluto approach had had an effect on your own heart shape.

[Ann]

I don't think there's a real RGB image of Pluto coming... ever? Anyway, here's a false color image.

Click to view full size image

There is supposed to be a data dump received from NH at about 8:55 pm EST.

as to the false-color

Pluto and Charon Shine in False Color
NASA | JHU-APL | SwRI | New Horizons | 2015 July 14

I find it very disappointing that they don't clearly explain what the false colors mean. Yes, I understand that they show different compositions on Pluto and Charon, and I wholeheartedly agree that this is a very important issue. But if NASA doesn't explain what the different colors signify, or at least what the different filters are supposed to detect, then the false color image becomes just irritating. Certainly to me, at least.

I can only hope that the false colors will be explained later on.

Ann

[orin stepanek]

Where the heck have you been, orin

I was worried that the Pluto approach had had an effect on your own heart shape.

Actually my heart condition is another matter! I guess I think of hearts as shaped more like a valentine!

[orin stepanek]

Thanks, Art: I can see clearly now!

Click to view full size image

[Chris Peterson]

I find it very disappointing that they don't clearly explain what the false colors mean. Yes, I understand that they show different compositions on Pluto and Charon, and I wholeheartedly agree that this is a very important issue. But if NASA doesn't explain what the different colors signify, or at least what the different filters are supposed to detect, then the false color image becomes just irritating. Certainly to me, at least.

I can only hope that the false colors will be explained later on.

I think they were pretty clear. “Our surface composition team is working as fast as we can to identify the substances in different regions on Pluto and unravel the processes that put them where they are.” There's nothing wrong with saying "we don't know"! Two examples are given for regions where specific colors have been associated with possible compositions. In the meantime, it's clear that the different observed colors identify regions of interest that will demand further study (and examination via other filters, which hopefully were used as well).

[bystander]

New Horizons ‘Phones Home’ Safe after Pluto Flyby
NASA | JHU-APL | SwRI | New Horizons | 2015 July 15

[Ann]

I find it very disappointing that they don't clearly explain what the false colors mean. Yes, I understand that they show different compositions on Pluto and Charon, and I wholeheartedly agree that this is a very important issue. But if NASA doesn't explain what the different colors signify, or at least what the different filters are supposed to detect, then the false color image becomes just irritating. Certainly to me, at least.

I can only hope that the false colors will be explained later on.

I think they were pretty clear. “Our surface composition team is working as fast as we can to identify the substances in different regions on Pluto and unravel the processes that put them where they are.” There's nothing wrong with saying "we don't know"! Two examples are given for regions where specific colors have been associated with possible compositions. In the meantime, it's clear that the different observed colors identify regions of interest that will demand further study (and examination via other filters, which hopefully were used as well).

Okay, Chris. Explanations will be forthcoming.

Ann

[geckzilla]

One scientist on Twitter looked at the spectra that have come in so far and said "Lots of methane at the pole" so there's one thing for you.

[BMAONE23]

Click to view full size image

Latest and greatest from New Horizons
http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/Multimedia/Scie ... age_id=229

[Ann]

Click to view full size image

Ann

[THX1138]

Off topic kind-of " which sometimes seems like my nitch in life here at the Asterisk )
Where giving names to rifts, valleys, ice mountains and etc are concerned
Since our probe is the first to image Pluto and its moons i would imagine that we solely retain the right to name them all so do we greedily do so ? Or are scientists all around the world given a chance to name some
Then also, does anyone know if peoples in countries like North Korea are even told of what the United States of America has done and or are they even given a chance to see these pictures

AND
@ orin stepanek
@ Ann Thank you both for your humorous posts on this page (17)
AND
A special thank you goes out to luxorion for the awesome artwork that he has taken the time
to draw and share with us here at the Asterisk Cafe. luxorion = Hell of a good artist and a cool dude

[Nitpicker]

Off topic kind-of " which sometimes seems like my nitch in life here at the Asterisk )
Where giving names to rifts, valleys, ice mountains and etc are concerned
Since our probe is the first to image Pluto and its moons i would imagine that we solely retain the right to name them all so do we greedily do so ? Or are scientists all around the world given a chance to name some
Then also, does anyone know if peoples in countries like North Korea are even told of what the United States of America has done and or are they even given a chance to see these pictures

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_nomenclature:

The task of assigning official names to features is taken up by the International Astronomical Union since its founding in 1919.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary ... ture#Pluto:

... Plutonian surface features are to be named after underworld deities.

[orin stepanek]

Thx1138; The artwork comes from Art's post which I cut copied from another thread!

[bystander]

Thx1138; The artwork comes from Art's post which I cut copied from another thread!

The artwork comes from xkcd

[Chris Peterson]

Off topic kind-of " which sometimes seems like my nitch in life here at the Asterisk )
Where giving names to rifts, valleys, ice mountains and etc are concerned
Since our probe is the first to image Pluto and its moons i would imagine that we solely retain the right to name them all so do we greedily do so ? Or are scientists all around the world given a chance to name some

To extend Art's post, the IAU does not generally name features, it only formalizes names. The names themselves can come from many places. Most often, that is from the scientists working on exploration projects. Sometimes it's from the public. And while there are guidelines about where the names should come from, they are frequently not observed. Even though "Tombaugh Regio" doesn't follow the Plutonian naming convention, it will likely receive IAU approval.

Most of the significant features on Pluto and Charon will probably be named by New Horizons team members, and most of those names are likely to be adopted by the IAU.

[orin stepanek]

Thx1138; The artwork comes from Art's post which I cut copied from another thread!

The artwork comes from xkcd

To be clear; I wasn't giving Art credit for the artwork; I was giving him credit for the post! I don't mean to discredit anyone!
BTW xkcd did a nice job!

[Nitpicker]

Even though "Tombaugh Regio" doesn't follow the Plutonian naming convention, it will likely receive IAU approval.

Most of the significant features on Pluto and Charon will probably be named by New Horizons team members, and most of those names are likely to be adopted by the IAU.

I think the use of the Tombaugh name for a feature on Pluto would be wonderful. But I think the "heart" itself would be more suitably (and romantically) named Persephone Regio.

[THX1138]

Art and xkcd Thank you

Persephone Regio .....Yep that is very

The supposed rules / guidelines for the naming of Pluto's surface features look to have gone right out the window
IE - Underworld deities...... Sputnik Planum ?
Nonetheless I like the name and it's pretty darn awesome that an American probe would image something and that
it would named after a Russian satellite.
Perhaps there is some hope for mankind after all

[BMAONE23]

A view of Pluto's atmosphere

Click to view full size image

Click to view full size image

[bystander]

New Horizons Team Finds Haze, Flowing Ice on Pluto
NASA | JHU-APL | SwRI | 2015 Jul 24

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

This simulated flyover of two regions on Pluto, northwestern Sputnik Planum (Sputnik Plain) and Hillary Montes (Hillary Mountains), was created from New Horizons close-approach images. Sputnik Planum has been informally named for Earth’s first artificial satellite, launched in 1957. Hillary Montes have been informally named for Sir Edmund Hillary, one of the first two humans to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1953. The images were acquired by the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on July 14 from a distance of 48,000 miles (77,000 kilometers). Features as small as one-half mile (1 kilometer) across are visible.

Credit: NASA/JHU-APL/SwRI

[bystander]

11 awesome facts about Pluto that you probably don’t know

[neufer]

11 awesome facts about Pluto that you probably don’t know

<<A single day on Pluto is equal to 6.4 Earth days, and it rotates backward compared to Earth and most other planets.
Pluto goes from east to west like Venus and Neptune [sic]. It also rotates on its side, like Neptune [sic].>>

Pluto goes from east to west like Venus and Uranus. It also rotates on its side, like Uranus.

• (Note, however, that most of Neptune's strong winds blow from east to west,
  opposite to the (magnetic) rotation of the planet, itself.)

<<When Pluto was demoted from a planet to a dwarf planet, it got a new official name. See, dwarf planets are in the same class of objects as asteroids and use the same MPC (minor planet designation) naming system. Therefore, Pluto’s official name is “134340 Pluto.” Doesn’t quite roll of the tongue, does it?>>

[b][color=#0000FF][size=180]The Beagle Boys: a gang of criminals who constantly try to rob Scrooge McDuck.[/size][/color][/b]

---

Pluto is Now Just a Number: 134340 Pluto
by Ker Than, Space.com Staff Writer

<<The Minor Planet Center (MPC) [also] issued an announcement stating that the assignment of permanent asteroid numbers to Pluto and other large objects located beyond the orbit of Neptune "does not preclude their having dual designations in possible separate catalogues of such bodies." MPC director emeritus Brian Marsden explained that the cryptic wording refers to the future possibility of creating a separate astronomical catalogue specific to dwarf planets. The recent IAU decision implies "that there would be two catalogues of dwarf planets-one for just the trans-Neptunian Pluto type and the other for objects like 1 Ceres, which has also been deemed a dwarf planet," Marsden told SPACE.com. "That's why that statement was put there, to reassure people who think there would be other catalogues that this numbering of Pluto doesn't preclude that.">>

[orin stepanek]

Kinda disappointed; I guess I was expecting a ton of pictures after the fly by!

[Beyond]

Kinda disappointed; I guess I was expecting a ton of pictures after the fly by!

PATIENCE, Orin. It takes a while to send tons of information, when it's sent by ounces, and the sender keeps getting farther away.