2014 MU69 "Ultima Thule" flyby, For discussion of the encounter as it happens |
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2014 MU69 "Ultima Thule" flyby, For discussion of the encounter as it happens |
 Dec 30 2018, 11:29 PM
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#46
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 IMG to PNG GOD  Group: Moderator Posts: 2250 Joined: 19-February 04 From: Near fire and ice Member No.: 38  |
QUOTE (Aldebaran @ Dec 30 2018, 10:56 PM)  Could that explain the lack of light curve? (temporal resolution constraints) I doubt it - some of the light curve observations probably include images taken with a short time interval between the images and probably also a variable interval. But if it turns out that UT really us a quickly rotating object that must be good news since it means NH will be able to observe a bigger part of UT's surface. |
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Dec 31 2018, 12:02 AM
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#47
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Forum Contributor Group: Members Posts: 1372 Joined: 8-February 04 From: North East Florida, USA. Member No.: 11 |
0.9m miles now.
Failsafe 1 images download starts at 8:31 pm EST. |
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Dec 31 2018, 12:12 AM
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#48
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 68 Joined: 27-March 15 Member No.: 7426 |
How fast would Ultima Thule have to be spinning, I wonder, so that the light curve would be smeared out into one consistent light level?
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Dec 31 2018, 01:37 AM
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#49
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 Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1423 Joined: 26-July 08 Member No.: 4270 |
It doesn't appear to be a binary object from this image.
(Processed by Daniel Bamberger (stacked, deconvoluted, enlarged)).
Attached thumbnail(s)
-------------------- -- Hungry4info (Sirius_Alpha)
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Dec 31 2018, 03:16 AM
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#50
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 Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2082 Joined: 13-February 10 From: Ontario Member No.: 5221 |
DSN Now shows 1.06 kb/ sec download! This is 'Failsafe 1', right?
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Dec 31 2018, 03:30 AM
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#51
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Forum Contributor Group: Members Posts: 1372 Joined: 8-February 04 From: North East Florida, USA. Member No.: 11 |
QUOTE (Explorer1 @ Dec 31 2018, 04:16 AM) DSN Now shows 1.06 kb/ sec download! This is 'Failsafe 1', right? Correct, download ends at 23:56 EST. |
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Dec 31 2018, 04:58 AM
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#52
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Newbie Group: Members Posts: 17 Joined: 25-December 18 Member No.: 8512 |
DSN communication seems to have stopped at 04:43UTC, with several bounces lasting until ~04:47 when the signal dropped.
With the exception of a weird signal drop at ~04:26UTC, signal strength was fairly steady at ~ -147 to -148.5 dBm throughout, indicating good tracking at Canberra and stable pointing by the spacecraft - a good sign... |
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Dec 31 2018, 05:18 AM
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#53
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 Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8783 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
Remember that DSN Now is not an authoritative source to determine what's going on with any given spacecraft. See this post re the Opportunity listening campaign.
It's definitely cool, but anything but official. 
-------------------- 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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Dec 31 2018, 06:32 AM
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#54
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 Member Group: Members Posts: 159 Joined: 4-March 06 Member No.: 694 |
Closest approach is just under 24 hours away. In fact, as of right now it is 23 hours and 1 minute to go.
-------------------- I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore choose life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed.
- Opening line from episode 13 of "Cosmos" |
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Dec 31 2018, 07:04 AM
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#55
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 Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2173 Joined: 28-December 04 From: Florida, USA Member No.: 132 |
QUOTE (Bjorn Jonsson @ Dec 30 2018, 06:25 PM) Interesting tidbit in the Spaceflight Now live-blog from Hal Weaver, there are some hints that Ultima Thule is a quickly-rotating object. From Alan Stern's post #9 in this thread:"We're looking for periods ranging from ridiculously long (weeks) to ridiculously short (2 hours). Nothing firm yet." |
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Dec 31 2018, 08:33 AM
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#56
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8783 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
QUOTE (dudley @ Dec 30 2018, 05:12 PM) How fast would Ultima Thule have to be spinning, I wonder, so that the light curve would be smeared out into one consistent light level? That's an excellent question. I suppose it would depend on how continuous the dataset was above all else and the rate of sample acquisition; would think that there would also have to virtually no detectable albedo variations at any distance much beyond where NH is right now, which is maybe not too much of a stretch for such a small (and likely primeval) object. We should hopefully know well before C/A, though. That image Hungry put up looks SORTA maybe kinda oblong if nothing else, so it oughta spin around in a noticeable fashion. -------------------- 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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Dec 31 2018, 10:59 AM
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#57
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 Member Group: Members Posts: 112 Joined: 20-August 12 From: Spain Member No.: 6597 |
According to spanish newspaper "Publico", New Horizons is due to land in Ultima Thule tomorrow and also states that was launched in 1996. We've been trying all the morning to get that text updated, but seems impossible. Don't know where they've got all this information.
Anyway, there is a lot of expectation in spanish social media about the flyby, and that is really nice. Good luck for the team!. |
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Dec 31 2018, 11:13 AM
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#58
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 Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2920 Joined: 14-February 06 From: Very close to the Pyrénées Mountains (France) Member No.: 682 |
QUOTE (paraisosdelsistemasolar @ Dec 31 2018, 11:59 AM) According to spanish newspaper "Publico", New Horizons is due to land in Ultima Thule tomorrow and also states that was launched in 1996. We've been trying all the morning to get that text updated, but seems impossible. Don't know where they've got all this information.
Anyway, there is a lot of expectation in spanish social media about the flyby, and that is really nice. Good luck for the team!. Neither they’ve heard of the Voyagers and Pioneer 10&11th.... -------------------- |
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Dec 31 2018, 02:43 PM
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#59
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 Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1630 Joined: 5-March 05 From: Boulder, CO Member No.: 184 |
QUOTE (Hungry4info @ Dec 31 2018, 01:37 AM) It doesn't appear to be a binary object from this image. (Processed by Daniel Bamberger (stacked, deconvoluted, enlarged)). Interesting to see this result from the deconvolution (deconvolving?), since a number of the neighboring stars appeared to have an L shaped appearance in the raw images. -------------------- Steve [ my home page and planetary maps page ]
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Dec 31 2018, 05:37 PM
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#60
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Forum Contributor Group: Members Posts: 1372 Joined: 8-February 04 From: North East Florida, USA. Member No.: 11 |
Failsafe 2 should be downloading now.
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