Voyagers & Kbo's, Searching for KBO's w/Voyager cams? |
Voyagers & Kbo's, Searching for KBO's w/Voyager cams? |
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#1
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![]() Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 656 Joined: 20-April 05 From: League City, Texas Member No.: 285 ![]() |
I know the Voyager cameras were shut down many years ago, but I wonder whether it would be feasible to reactivate them and use them to survey Kuiper-Belt objects in the vicinity? KBO's had not yet been discovered at the time the cams were shut down, as best as I can recall, but it seems a waste not to put them (or even the star trackers) to use for periodic long-exposure surveys of the local vicinity. I know power is running low, but does anyone know if this is an option? Also, it would make sense to use ground-based telescopes to search for large KBO's near the Voyager spacecraft... it is conceivable that a serendipitous flyby may be feasible.
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#2
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![]() Interplanetary Dumpster Diver ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Admin Posts: 4404 Joined: 17-February 04 From: Powell, TN Member No.: 33 ![]() |
QUOTE (algorimancer @ May 24 2005, 05:32 PM) I know the Voyager cameras were shut down many years ago, but I wonder whether it would be feasible to reactivate them and use them to survey Kuiper-Belt objects in the vicinity? KBO's had not yet been discovered at the time the cams were shut down, as best as I can recall, but it seems a waste not to put them (or even the star trackers) to use for periodic long-exposure surveys of the local vicinity. I know power is running low, but does anyone know if this is an option? Also, it would make sense to use ground-based telescopes to search for large KBO's near the Voyager spacecraft... it is conceivable that a serendipitous flyby may be feasible. No. The power levels are too low, and the scan platform has been turned off. I don't think there is enough power to run the cameras even if they wanted to. At any rate, the first Kuiper belt flyby might have already occured. I hope they can someday pin down information with greater certainty regarding this. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/460095.stm -------------------- |
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#3
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![]() Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 656 Joined: 20-April 05 From: League City, Texas Member No.: 285 ![]() |
Neat, I'm not sure I recall hearing about the Pioneer 10 thing. I would guess that, considering the distance, an optical search in the vicinity of the 1999 position should find the KBO; I wouldn't expect much visible motion.
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#4
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![]() Senior Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 2492 Joined: 15-January 05 From: center Italy Member No.: 150 ![]() |
QUOTE (algorimancer @ May 25 2005, 01:02 PM) Neat, I'm not sure I recall hearing about the Pioneer 10 thing. I would guess that, considering the distance, an optical search in the vicinity of the 1999 position should find the KBO; I wouldn't expect much visible motion. Assuming moderate orbit eccentricity, an object orbiting at this distance should move at least 10 degree from position occuped 12.5 years before... not so easy to find, considering that direction of motion is unknown! -------------------- I always think before posting! - Marco -
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#5
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![]() Merciless Robot ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Admin Posts: 8784 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 ![]() |
That must have been a CLOSE encounter for a detectable deflection to happen at all, true?....
![]() Most KBOs are real lightweights, considering their low densities. Considering the odds of Pioneer 10 coming anywhere near anything out there, maybe a search within a 10 deg radius of the last known position would actually be worth doing! Odds are that the object is pretty hefty by KBO standards...plus, the BBC article indicated that it might be on a solar escape trajectory, so the history/orbital dynamics of this hypothetical body would be extremely interesting in so many ways... -------------------- 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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