Pluto Surface Observations 1: NH Post-Encounter Phase, 1 Aug 2015- 10 Oct 2015 |
Pluto Surface Observations 1: NH Post-Encounter Phase, 1 Aug 2015- 10 Oct 2015 |
Aug 1 2015, 05:53 PM
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8785 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
This topic will contain images & discussion of same as they arrive during the extended download period. Similar threads will be opened in coming months as required as acquired data & discussion proceeds.
-------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Aug 7 2015, 08:42 PM
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Solar System Cartographer Group: Members Posts: 10226 Joined: 5-April 05 From: Canada Member No.: 227 |
Another point to consider: since the illumination is coming largely from the northern hemisphere of the reflecting body, it will be barely able to illuminate the south pole itself. And the bodies are pretty close to each other. Imagine you are at Pluto's south pole - can you see Charon at all? Or is it below the horizon, as Phobos and Deimos are from Mars's poles? In fact it will be below the horizon out to a certain distance from the pole, and for an additional distance, only the night side of Charon would be above the horizon, so not illuminating anything. It's intriguing to speculate on the appearance of Pluto from Charon's south pole - in some range of latitudes Pluto's night side would be above the horizon, its illuminated portion still below the horizon, but arcs of faintly lit atmospheric haze might reach up from the horizon as we saw in the backlit view. They might not make a full circle because of the geometry.
As for the range of longitudes, as the system rotates the illuminated night half will sometimes be better placed for viewing, sometimes less so. Light bleed from the sunlit crescent will be a problem, so when the Charonshine region is adjacent to the sunlit crescent we should have better viewing geometry but worse light pollution. When it's opposite the sunlit crescent it will be foreshortened but less contaminated. So a lot depends on the timing of imaging. I would like to see some simulations of this. Phil -------------------- ... because the Solar System ain't gonna map itself.
Also to be found posting similar content on https://mastodon.social/@PhilStooke Maps for download (free PDF: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm...Cartography.pdf NOTE: everything created by me which I post on UMSF is considered to be in the public domain (NOT CC, public domain) |
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