New Horizons

[lajoswinkler]

"We did not expect to find hints of a nitrogen-based glacial cycle on Pluto operating in the frigid conditions of the outer solar system,†said Alan Howard, a member of the mission’s Geology, Geophysics and Imaging team from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville. “Driven by dim sunlight, this would be directly comparable to the hydrological cycle that feeds ice caps on Earth, where water is evaporated from the oceans, falls as snow, and returns to the seas through glacial flow.â€Â

“Pluto is surprisingly Earth-like in this regard,†added Stern, “and no one predicted it.â€Â

This is just BS. Nitrogen hydrological cycle was expected, at least in the form of sublimation and deposition, with actual flows being hypothesized. Is he on drugs?

This was all predicted and expected, but when you actually see it happening in front of your eyes... just wow. These images are amazing.

[Kryten]

That's Stern for you. He does some good work, but he's very heavy with the spin.

[lajoswinkler]

He has a history of such stupid statements?

[Kryten]

He has a history of twisting whatever he can get to get more attention on Pluto. Most notably, he tried to get congress force NASA to produce a second copy of NH after the internal selection process rejected it.

[baggers]

Cool factor for pluton continue to increase: Its

[Aethon]

http://blogs.nasa.gov/pluto/2015/09/18/art-meets-science-in-new-pluto-aerial-tour/

[Exoscientist]

He has a history of such stupid statements?

In fairness to Alan Howard and Stern, what they are probably referring to is more than just the nitrogen condensing and sublimating as Pluto varies in its orbit. They are referring to things like melting and flowing glaciers and even perhaps flowing "rivers" of nitrogen.

Bob Clark

[Frida Space]

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Sharpest EVER images -- 250 m/pixel!!

[Mitchz95]

Are they still doing press conferences, or just releasing the images now?

[Frida Space]

Are they still doing press conferences, or just releasing the images now?

Just press releases.

Also, apparently methane is found almost only on the brightest areas (Spuntik Planum, crater borders). Scientists still have to figure out the relationship between methane and brightness, e.g. who came first? was it the methane that, condensing, made the regions brighter, or the brightness of the regions that attracted the methane?

[winged]

http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/crop_p_color2_enhanced_release.png

Resolution 8000 x 8000

[lajoswinkler]

In fairness to Alan Howard and Stern, what they are probably referring to is more than just the nitrogen condensing and sublimating as Pluto varies in its orbit. They are referring to things like melting and flowing glaciers and even perhaps flowing "rivers" of nitrogen.

Bob Clark

Unless you're thinking of underground rivers, there can't be any on Pluto's surface. The pressure is simply too low for those.

I don't know what were they thinking, but as scientists, they need to express their thoughts accurately.

BTW those images are amazing.

http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/pmap_pmc195_8092-shenk.jpg

[Mau]

I got to stop missing the image releases!

Regardless of that, here are some closeups of Charon:

Edited September 27, 2015 by Mau

[Aethon]

This composite of enhanced color images of Pluto (lower right) and Charon (upper left), was taken by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft as it passed through the Pluto system on July 14, 2015. This image highlights the striking differences between Pluto and Charon. The color and brightness of both Pluto and Charon have been processed identically to allow direct comparison of their surface properties, and to highlight the similarity between Charon’s polar red terrain and Pluto’s equatorial red terrain. Pluto and Charon are shown with approximately correct relative sizes, but their true separation is not to scale. The image combines blue, red and infrared images taken by the spacecraft’s Ralph/Multispectral Visual Imaging Camera (MVIC).

Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

Some new images coming in.

http://www.nasa.gov/feature/pluto-s-big-moon-charon-reveals-a-colorful-and-violent-history

[Motokid600]

What could the red coloring be? Rust like on

Mars? Some form of clay? Either way my heart skips a beat every time I see pictures of this wonderful system.

[-ctn-]

What could the red coloring be? Rust like on

Mars? Some form of clay? Either way my heart skips a beat every time I see pictures of this wonderful system.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the red color was related to the methane / tholins in the ground.

[KerikBalm]

There seems to be a distinct terrain dichotomy on Charon... any ideas why?

[Mitchz95]

Could it have been caused by Pluto's gravity? I know the two are tidally locked now, but they weren't always.

[Aethon]

Tholins are the byproducts of the UV irradiation of certain cosmically abundant gasses: Methane (CH4), Ethane (C2H6), Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S), Ammonia (NH3) and others.

Speculation: It seems to me like the tholins ( probably a mixture of pre-tholinated compounds ) have been out gassed from Pluto ( perhaps due to a seasonal cycle ) with some force. Enough to reach the gravitational influence of Xaron, where they form some sort of super low pressure envelope around the system. This chemical mixture is drawn toward the colder poles of Xaron, where it falls as some sort of snow. Later doses of UV change the composition of this 'snow' reddening its' appearance. In places on Plutos' surface the tholins look like they have 'blown in on the wind' or precipitated out, filling craters and forming 'snow' fields.

Edited October 2, 2015 by Aethon

[Frida Space]

Speculation: It seems to me like the tholins ( probably a mixture of pre-tholinated compounds ) have been out gassed from Pluto ( perhaps due to a seasonal cycle ) with some force. Enough to reach the gravitational influence of Xaron, where they form some sort of super low pressure envelope around the system. This chemical mixture is drawn toward the colder poles of Xaron, where it falls as some sort of snow. Later doses of UV change the composition of this 'snow' reddening its' appearance. In places on Plutos' surface the tholins look like they have 'blown in on the wind' or precipitated out, filling craters and forming 'snow' fields.

I agree, that seems the most likely theory. Gases (methane and nitrogen) escaping from Pluto, being caught by Charon's gravity, freezing on the surface on the coldest spots (right on the pole, in fact), and being transformed into non-volatile tholins through UV radiation and cosmic rays.

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The many small craters that expose the bright, white material just underneath prove that the dark polar feature (Mordor I think it has been informally called) is just a very thin layer, a veneer.

[lajoswinkler]

I wouldn't say they were tholins before reaching Charon because tholins aren't volatile at those temperatures. But yeah, seems to be the case of a process lasting for an ungodly amount of time involving Charon grabbing gaseous particles from Pluto and subsequent photolysis and recombination. Billions of years for a thin cover.

[lajoswinkler]

I've used one series of latest Pluto's limb photos to stitch them up without any modifications. It was quite difficult because there's almost no discernible markers to help with stitching. Manually, of course.

[Aethon]

Nice lajos.

Plutos' small moons.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/pluto/2015/10/05/plutos-small-moons-nix-and-hydra/

[Exoscientist]

Nasa set to make an 'amazing' announcement about Pluto, senior scientist says

Senior planetary scientist Dr Alan Stern said that Nasa wouldn't allow him to say anything before the official announcement

Doug Bolton Wednesday 7 October 2015 18:25

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/nasa-amazing-announcement-pluto-alan-stern-a6684981.html

My guess is active geology such as cryovolcanism like Triton.

Bob Clark

[Frida Space]

Alan Stern just tweeted "There is a false rumor going around that there will be a BIG New Horizons science announcement tomorrow. Completely false"

But knowing him, he probably means "there won't be a BIG announcement, there will be a HUGE one"