Pluto Predictions, What will NH find? |
Pluto Predictions, What will NH find? |
Oct 3 2008, 04:50 PM
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Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 2785 Joined: 10-November 06 From: Pasadena, CA Member No.: 1345 |
Dunes.
And basins. Maybe not as thoroughly chemically processed as Titan's basins, but basins. What do you think New Horizons will find at Pluto? How will Pluto surprise us? -Mike -------------------- Some higher resolution images available at my photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31678681@N07/
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May 16 2010, 10:04 PM
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Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 2785 Joined: 10-November 06 From: Pasadena, CA Member No.: 1345 |
Recent observations indicated that there might be a lag in the freeze out of Pluto's atmosphere. It might be just starting to freeze out as NH buzzes past.
From Pasachoff et al. The Astronomical Journal 129 (2005) 1718-1723. "The structure of Pluto's atmosphere from the 2002 August 21 stellar occultation." Freely available here. (as html, click for pdf version) "The current increase in temperature and pressure seems to prolong the period in which the atmosphere will remain detectable before its collapse, making it more likely that New Horizons will be in time for atmospheric studies at Pluto. The current data are consistent with the model of Hansen & Paige (1996, Fig. 11) that shows a cooling beginning in 2015, not far from the spacecraft’s prospective arrival." -------------------- Some higher resolution images available at my photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31678681@N07/
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