Pluto's Expanding Atmosphere Confounds Researchers, Pluto Atomosphere |
Pluto's Expanding Atmosphere Confounds Researchers, Pluto Atomosphere |
Apr 19 2011, 08:26 PM
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 21 Joined: 4-November 10 Member No.: 5509 |
Pluto's Expanding Atmosphere Confounds Researchers
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011...onf.html?ref=hp Could these be evidence of geyers like on Triton? |
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Apr 21 2011, 10:18 AM
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#2
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1729 Joined: 3-August 06 From: 43° 35' 53" N 1° 26' 35" E Member No.: 1004 |
may someone with some time to spare and Pluto and Charon masses and distance at hand compute where the L1 lagrangian point would lie?
I was thinking: how much would the atmosphere of Pluto need to inflate before mass transfer to Charon begins? this is what happens on some classes of double stars including some kinds of supernovae |
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Apr 21 2011, 11:30 AM
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#3
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Member Group: Members Posts: 593 Joined: 20-April 05 Member No.: 279 |
I get L1 for Pluto lying around 5050km from the centre of Charon, 14520km from the centre of Pluto. About 4/5ths of the way from Pluto to Charon.
Andy |
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Apr 22 2011, 04:57 AM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1018 Joined: 29-November 05 From: Seattle, WA, USA Member No.: 590 |
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Apr 22 2011, 05:19 AM
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#5
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1729 Joined: 3-August 06 From: 43° 35' 53" N 1° 26' 35" E Member No.: 1004 |
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Apr 22 2011, 12:49 PM
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#6
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Member Group: Members Posts: 532 Joined: 19-February 05 Member No.: 173 |
that's not really important. the point to me is that Pluto's swollen atmosphere fills a sizable portion of its Roche lobe, making Mass transfer to Charon possible Paolo, You might be interested to know that papers about mass transfer to Charon over Pluto's Roche lobe go back to the early 1980s, and this point was emphasized numerous times to review committees during the 90s era when a Pluto mission was being sold within the planetary mission advisory structure. -Alan |
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Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 20th September 2024 - 07:49 PM |
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