APOD: Charon: Moon of Pluto (2015 Oct 02)

[Chris Peterson]

Tis most unfortunate that we will have to wait another 124 years to be able to send another probe and image the other side of these worlds when the south polar region is in full sun

Sunlight is not a requirement for our studying that region.

[neufer]

Tis most unfortunate that we will have to wait another 124 years to be able to send another probe and image the other side of these worlds when the south polar region is in full sun

[b][color=#0000FF]Pluto's seasons: With an orbital eccentricity of 0.24, Pluto is almost twice as far from the Sun at aphelion than at perihelion. Its seasons are aligned with this elliptical orbit such that perihelion occurs at the transition from northern winter to spring.[/color] -Emily Lakdawalla after Candy Hansen[/b]

---

Especially considering that if Voyager 1 had paid less attention to Titan it could have mapped the other side of these worlds back in the 1986.

<<The trajectory chosen for Voyager 1 was designed around the optimum Titan flyby, which took it below the south pole of Saturn and out of the plane of the ecliptic, ending its planetary science mission. Had Voyager 1 failed or been unable to observe Titan, Voyager 2's trajectory would have been altered to incorporate the Titan flyby, precluding any visit to Uranus and Neptune. The trajectory Voyager 1 was launched into would not have allowed it to continue on to Uranus and Neptune, but could have been altered to avoid a Titan flyby and travel from Saturn to Pluto, arriving in 1986.>>

[BMAONE23]

Tis most unfortunate that we will have to wait another 124 years to be able to send another probe and image the other side of these worlds when the south polar region is in full sun

Sunlight is not a requirement for our studying that region.

To study...no. But to image in full sun as specified...yes

[Chris Peterson]

Tis most unfortunate that we will have to wait another 124 years to be able to send another probe and image the other side of these worlds when the south polar region is in full sun

Sunlight is not a requirement for our studying that region.

To study...no. But to image in full sun as specified...yes

Sure. But since there's absolutely no need to image it in the Sun, and in fact, we're capable of making better images that appear sunlit without using the Sun, I wouldn't characterize the situation a "unfortunate".

[neufer]

Tis most unfortunate that we will have to wait another 124 years to be able to send another probe and image the other side of these worlds when the south polar region is in full sun

...there's absolutely no need to image it in the Sun, and in fact, we're capable of making better images that appear sunlit without using the Sun, I wouldn't characterize the situation a "unfortunate".

[b][color=#0000FF]The portions of Pluto's & Charon's surface mapped by New Horizons[/color][/b]

---

---

---

<<Terra incognita or terra ignota (Latin "unknown land"; incognita is stressed on its second syllable in Latin, but with variation in pronunciation in English) is a term used in cartography for regions that have not been mapped or documented. The expression is believed to be first seen in Ptolemy's Geography circa AD 150. The term was reintroduced in the fifteenth century from the rediscovery of Ptolemy’s work during the Age of Discovery. The equivalent on French maps would be terres inconnues (plural form), and some English maps may show Parts Unknown. During the 19th century terra incognita disappeared from maps of the earth, since both the coastlines and the inner parts of the continents had been fully explored. But many other land surfaces in the solar system remain mostly un-mapped.

An urban legend claims that cartographers labelled such regions with "Here be dragons". Although cartographers did claim that fantastic beasts existed in remote corners of the world and depicted such as decoration on their maps, only one known surviving map, the (ca. 1510) Lenox Globe, in the collection of the New York Public Library, actually says "Here be dragons" (using the Latin form "HIC SVNT DRACONES").

However, ancient Roman and Medieval cartographers did use the phrase HIC SVNT LEONES (Here are lions) when denoting unknown territories on maps.>>

[ta152h0]

well, NASA is building a new super duper rocket and send it off in the direction of Saggitarius and vote for smart senators who we can send off o congress

[Ann]

Lovely Lenox Globe, Art. I actually found the HICSYNT DRACONES on the map, south of "India" at far right.

But there will be no dragons on either Charon nor Pluto, not even dragons with antifreeze in their veins.

Ann

[neufer]

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

Lovely Lenox Globe, Art. I actually found the HICSYNT DRACONES on the map, south of "India" at far right.

But there will be no dragons on either Charon nor Pluto, not even dragons with antifreeze in their veins.

Voyager 1 might have seen reluctant dragons in the bottom Hemispheres

(Lenox did a fairly decent job with Sweden but Norway is "way off in left field.")

[Durango]

"That makes it the largest satellite relative to its planet in the solar system." - apparently you (APOD) forget, that Pluto isn't a planet anymore.

[Chris Peterson]

"That makes it the largest satellite relative to its planet in the solar system." - apparently you (APOD) forget, that Pluto isn't a planet anymore.

But it is. Because "planet" has multiple meanings, and the phrase "relative to its planet" is still perfectly reasonable whether or not you are considering the IAU definition or not (which is, of course, one of the problems with the IAU definition).

[neufer]

• 1) an elephant
  2) a resting cat
  3) Mickey Mouse
  4) ...

[Beyond]

• 1) an elephant
  2) a resting cat
  3) Mickey Mouse
  4) ...

I like #4.

[ta152h0]

manta ray ?

[BMAONE23]

• 1) an elephant
  2) a resting cat
  3) Mickey Mouse
  4) ...

I like #4.

There is also a "#4" on Pluto, preceding the Whale
Of course it could be a Number 6 too

[Beyond]

• 1) an elephant
  2) a resting cat
  3) Mickey Mouse
  4) ...

I like #4.

There is also a "#4" on Pluto, preceding the Whale
Of course it could be a Number 6 too

I'd have to see morse of it to be able to tell.

[neufer]

[url=http://www.redbubble.com/people/eleanorlutz/works/21065865-here-there-be-robots][size=200]Here there be robots[/size][/url]

---