Pluto Surface Observations 2: NH Post-Encounter Phase, 10 Oct 2015- 1 Feb 2016 Options

[Saturns Moon Tit...]

Can't wait for the first data release since December 18th!

In the mean time, here's yesterday's press conference: http://www.nasa.gov/feature/particles-go-w...pluto-s-surface

[Saturns Moon Tit...]

Stuff is now appearing on the LORRI page: http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/soc/Pluto-Encounter/index.php

[Herobrine]

Here are all of the new LORRI frames published today.

lor_0299231504_0x639_sci_1.jpg 'P_DEEPIM':'Deep 2.4-sigma LORRI mosaic of Pluto nightside, in one frame', taken:'2015-07-15T01:59:45.706', target:'PLUTO', range:701888.854299, exposure:0.3
lor_0299231498_0x639_sci_1.jpg 'P_DEEPIM':'Deep 2.4-sigma LORRI mosaic of Pluto nightside, in one frame', taken:'2015-07-15T01:59:39.706', target:'PLUTO', range:701806.266727, exposure:0.3
lor_0299231495_0x639_sci_1.jpg 'P_DEEPIM':'Deep 2.4-sigma LORRI mosaic of Pluto nightside, in one frame', taken:'2015-07-15T01:59:36.706', target:'PLUTO', range:701764.972939, exposure:0.3
lor_0299231489_0x639_sci_1.jpg 'P_DEEPIM':'Deep 2.4-sigma LORRI mosaic of Pluto nightside, in one frame', taken:'2015-07-15T01:59:30.706', target:'PLUTO', range:701682.385368, exposure:0.3
lor_0299231486_0x639_sci_1.jpg 'P_DEEPIM':'Deep 2.4-sigma LORRI mosaic of Pluto nightside, in one frame', taken:'2015-07-15T01:59:27.706', target:'PLUTO', range:701641.091581, exposure:0.3
lor_0299231483_0x639_sci_1.jpg 'P_DEEPIM':'Deep 2.4-sigma LORRI mosaic of Pluto nightside, in one frame', taken:'2015-07-15T01:59:24.706', target:'PLUTO', range:701599.797796, exposure:0.3
lor_0299231480_0x639_sci_1.jpg 'P_DEEPIM':'Deep 2.4-sigma LORRI mosaic of Pluto nightside, in one frame', taken:'2015-07-15T01:59:21.706', target:'PLUTO', range:701558.504011, exposure:0.3
lor_0299231474_0x639_sci_1.jpg 'P_DEEPIM':'Deep 2.4-sigma LORRI mosaic of Pluto nightside, in one frame', taken:'2015-07-15T01:59:15.706', target:'PLUTO', range:701475.916441, exposure:0.3
lor_0299231477_0x639_sci_1.jpg 'P_DEEPIM':'Deep 2.4-sigma LORRI mosaic of Pluto nightside, in one frame', taken:'2015-07-15T01:59:18.706', target:'PLUTO', range:701517.210228, exposure:0.3
lor_0299231471_0x639_sci_1.jpg 'P_DEEPIM':'Deep 2.4-sigma LORRI mosaic of Pluto nightside, in one frame', taken:'2015-07-15T01:59:12.706', target:'PLUTO', range:701434.622657, exposure:0.3
lor_0299231462_0x639_sci_1.jpg 'P_DEEPIM':'Deep 2.4-sigma LORRI mosaic of Pluto nightside, in one frame', taken:'2015-07-15T01:59:03.706', target:'PLUTO', range:701310.741305, exposure:0.3
lor_0299231465_0x639_sci_1.jpg 'P_DEEPIM':'Deep 2.4-sigma LORRI mosaic of Pluto nightside, in one frame', taken:'2015-07-15T01:59:06.706', target:'PLUTO', range:701352.035087, exposure:0.3
lor_0299231468_0x639_sci_1.jpg 'P_DEEPIM':'Deep 2.4-sigma LORRI mosaic of Pluto nightside, in one frame', taken:'2015-07-15T01:59:09.706', target:'PLUTO', range:701393.328874, exposure:0.3
lor_0299231459_0x639_sci_1.jpg 'P_DEEPIM':'Deep 2.4-sigma LORRI mosaic of Pluto nightside, in one frame', taken:'2015-07-15T01:59:00.706', target:'PLUTO', range:701269.447523, exposure:0.3
lor_0299231456_0x639_sci_1.jpg 'P_DEEPIM':'Deep 2.4-sigma LORRI mosaic of Pluto nightside, in one frame', taken:'2015-07-15T01:58:57.706', target:'PLUTO', range:701228.153737, exposure:0.3
lor_0299231453_0x639_sci_1.jpg 'P_DEEPIM':'Deep 2.4-sigma LORRI mosaic of Pluto nightside, in one frame', taken:'2015-07-15T01:58:54.706', target:'PLUTO', range:701186.859954, exposure:0.3
lor_0299231450_0x639_sci_1.jpg 'P_DEEPIM':'Deep 2.4-sigma LORRI mosaic of Pluto nightside, in one frame', taken:'2015-07-15T01:58:51.706', target:'PLUTO', range:701145.566174, exposure:0.3
lor_0299231447_0x639_sci_1.jpg 'P_DEEPIM':'Deep 2.4-sigma LORRI mosaic of Pluto nightside, in one frame', taken:'2015-07-15T01:58:48.706', target:'PLUTO', range:701104.272389, exposure:0.3
lor_0299192236_0x636_sci_1.jpg 'P_DEP_SOONEST':'2-sigma LORRI Pluto crescent', taken:'2015-07-14T15:05:17.781', target:'PLUTO', range:161647.579777, exposure:0.15
lor_0299192235_0x636_sci_1.jpg 'P_DEP_SOONEST':'2-sigma LORRI Pluto crescent', taken:'2015-07-14T15:05:16.781', target:'PLUTO', range:161633.857648, exposure:0.15
lor_0299192234_0x636_sci_1.jpg 'P_DEP_SOONEST':'2-sigma LORRI Pluto crescent', taken:'2015-07-14T15:05:15.781', target:'PLUTO', range:161620.135526, exposure:0.15
lor_0299192233_0x636_sci_1.jpg 'P_DEP_SOONEST':'2-sigma LORRI Pluto crescent', taken:'2015-07-14T15:05:14.781', target:'PLUTO', range:161606.413413, exposure:0.15
lor_0299192183_0x636_sci_1.jpg 'P_DEP_SOONEST':'2-sigma LORRI Pluto crescent', taken:'2015-07-14T15:04:24.781', target:'PLUTO', range:160920.318409, exposure:0.15
lor_0299192182_0x636_sci_1.jpg 'P_DEP_SOONEST':'2-sigma LORRI Pluto crescent', taken:'2015-07-14T15:04:23.781', target:'PLUTO', range:160906.596724, exposure:0.15
lor_0299192181_0x636_sci_1.jpg 'P_DEP_SOONEST':'2-sigma LORRI Pluto crescent', taken:'2015-07-14T15:04:22.781', target:'PLUTO', range:160892.875045, exposure:0.15
lor_0299192180_0x636_sci_1.jpg 'P_DEP_SOONEST':'2-sigma LORRI Pluto crescent', taken:'2015-07-14T15:04:21.781', target:'PLUTO', range:160879.153376, exposure:0.15

[alan]

‘X’ Marks a Curious Corner on Pluto’s Icy Plains

This part of Pluto is acting like a lava lamp, if you can imagine a lava lamp as wide as, and even deeper than, the Hudson Bay.

Pluto’s Icy Plains in Highest-Resolution Views from New Horizons

[ZLD]

If anyone is up for a challenge, there is some faint ground data that I think could be extracted in these P_DEP_SOONEST images.

2015.07.14_15h05s14 - lor_0299192233_0x636_sci_1 - LORRI - P_DEP_SOONEST - 2-sigma LORRI Pluto crescent

[alan]

Probing the Mysterious Glacial Flow on Pluto’s Frozen ‘Heart’

Caption on the x marks the spot image says it was downloaded on Dec 24 though it has yet to show up at the LORRI site.

[wildespace]

Caption on the x marks the spot image says it was downloaded on Dec 24 though it has yet to show up at the LORRI site.

These images were available at LORRI site in the beginning to December, I believe: http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.p...8103&st=210

I only see one new image, the one with the "cross". Still one more image is required to complete the high-rez strip: http://pirlwww.lpl.arizona.edu/~perry/imag...IC_LORRI_CA.jpg

[Guest_alex_k_*]

An attempt to extract ground details, x2 enlarged.

[TheAnt]

Actually, if you're referring to the large sinkhole-like pits in the 'highlands', I believe we are close to agreement.

Oh yes, that's what I had in mind when typing. So yes, we agree.

And when writing here about Pluto, we've been very hesitant to spit it out clearly, but noted features that suggested glacial processes.
And then Dr. Orkan Umurhan post on this blog and state that these really are glaciers, but made of nitrogen and carbonoxide, that would flow comparatively more easy than glaciers on earth. (Those he's cautious to mention that only limited work have been done on those substances at that temperature.)

[Mongo]

The surface age of Sputnik Planum, Pluto, must be less than 10 million years

Data from the New Horizons mission to Pluto show no craters on Sputnik Planum down to the detection limit (2 km for low resolution data, 625 m for high resolution data). The number of small Kuiper Belt Objects that should be impacting Pluto is known to some degree from various astronomical surveys. We combine these geological and telescopic observations to make an order of magnitude estimate that the surface age of Sputnik Planum must be less than 10 million years. This maximum surface age is surprisingly young and implies that this area of Pluto must be undergoing active resurfacing, presumably through some cryo-geophysical process. We discuss three possible resurfacing mechanisms and the implications of each one for Pluto's physical properties.

It is possible that craters in SP undergo viscous relaxation, in which the surface material flows to relieve any topographic features and horizontal and vertical stresses. The viscous relaxation timescale τR — the time it takes for the height of a surface feature to diminish by a factor of 1/e — is given approximately by 3η/ρgw, where η is the effective viscosity, ρ is the density, g is the gravitational acceleration, and w is the breadth of the depression (in this case, a crater). The density of Pluto’s nitrogen ice is around 1000 kg/m^3 and the gravitational acceleration on Pluto is around 0.66 m/s^2. To cause a 625 meter crater (the smallest size detectable in the data) to relax over 10 million years therefore requires an effective viscosity of the SP surface layer material, which is largely nitrogen ice, of around 4 × 10^19 Pa-s. Because the relaxation timescale is an upper limit (the surface must be younger than 10 million years), the actual effective viscosity must be equal to or less than this value. This is a relatively loose constraint on viscosity; a tighter constraint arises from the next interpretation.

A second possibility is that craters in SP are erased and the surface reset through convective overturn. The physics of this anomaly correction is similar to that of viscous relaxation, except that the proximate cause is now a temperature difference from the bottom to the top of the convective cell. This temperature difference causes a density anomaly ∆ρ. The overturn timescale τoverturn is therefore approximately η/∆ρgL, where L is now the vertical dimension. The difference in density between nitrogen ice at 40 K (Pluto surface temperature) and 60 K (the temperature near the base of the “cryo-lithosphere” just below the nitrogen melting temperature) is around 5%, so we use this value for ∆ρ. We assume that the “cell boundaries” seen in the images indicate the horizontal extent of the convection cells — around 30 km — and that the vertical size of a convection cell is around three times smaller than the horizontal extent, or around 10 km. We find a viscosity of equal to or less than around 10^17 Pa-s. We have not taken into account the stress dependence of the effective viscosity, which would lower our estimate somewhat. Nevertheless, this result is consistent with the viscosity of nitrogen ice at 45 K of around 10^8 Pa-s, and indicates that convective overturn is a plausible mechanism for removing craters of this size on SP.

A third possible mechanism to erase craters on SP is through cryovolcanism that conveys melt from a subsurface reservoir. The assumption here is that at the base of the SP surface layer, which we again take to be on the order of 10 km, there is (perhaps partial) melting of nitrogen ice. This liquid material, which is under pressure, could be extruded to the surface through local cracks (presumably the same cell boundaries described above) and fill in any negative topography before freezing. This mechanism requires that the temperature at the base of the SP surface layer be around 63 K, at which temperature solid nitrogen melts, compared to the surface temperature of 38 K. This implies a temperature difference of around 25 K (the temperature difference across the SP surface layer) over a vertical distance of around 10 km, for a thermal gradient of around 2.5 K/km. The volume of infill material extruded in 10 million years must equal the volume of the crater that is erased, which is roughly πD3/80, where the factor of 10 in the denominator arises from the typical depth/diameter ratio of 1:10. The melt production rate must therefore be around 1 m^3/year or 10^7 m^3 (0.01 km3) in ten million years in order to erase a single crater of order 625 meters in diameter.

[Gladstoner]

The surface age of Sputnik Planum, Pluto, must be less than 10 million years

Thanks for the link. Interesting stuff.

(Edit: Discussion moved to Pluto System Speculation over in Chit Chat purgatory ( ):

http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.p...st&p=228995

[Saturns Moon Tit...]

New NASA release: Pluto’s Wright Mons in Color

http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/pluto-s-...t-mons-in-color

[ZLD]

Here is a morph I did of Wright Mons a few months ago, with a different enhanced color overlay. The resolution is quite large so I would recommend fullscreen.

[alan]

Some new high phase images of Pluto now at LORRI site.

[ZLD]

I hadn't even been paying attention until I happened to look at the SBN release schedule today. The next NH scheduled data release is next month for all instruments, labeled as 'Cruise', probably all 3 Approach phases.