Hubble: New Map Of Pluto, and new measurements of Charons size Options

[Decepticon]

Werid.

I have yet to see this image.


Someone please post it here!

[ElkGroveDan]

Someone please post it here!

Here's the picture of Pluto: http://www.shadow-lady.com/pluto/plutolay_1x1.gif

[Decepticon]

Ummmm... Ha Ha?

[tedstryk]

The previous HST map was in UV. This map seems to imply two or three wavelengths, although there was certainly some number-churning that led to its creations, and we can't take it to be the product simply of a few single-filter images. The occultation map was, I think, the product of "clear" imagery; I'm not sure if it was even a single instrument that was used to produce it or many.

All told, these maps could be integrated to produce a yet-finer map -- assuming that the surface has not changed much since 1990. However, hats off to the team behind the latest map. It's pretty impressive, and barring something nice from the not-yet-existent Webb Space Telescope, will be about as good a look as we get of Pluto until NH gets close.

It is, by and large, the same team that produced the last one, so perhaps they will try to integrate them. But the problem would lie in telling variations between wavelenths from albedo changes. I wish HST would image Triton with ACS, although such a proposal was rejected a few years ago. The visible vs. uv ratios on Triton seen by FOC in 1995 were quite interesting (as described by Flynn et al)

[ljk4-1]

It is, by and large, the same team that produced the last one, so perhaps they will try to integrate them.  But the problem would lie in telling variations between wavelenths from albedo changes.  I wish HST would image Triton with ACS, although such a proposal was rejected a few years ago.  The visible vs. uv ratios on Triton seen by FOC in 1995 were quite interesting (as described by Flynn et al)

Why was the imaging of Triton rejected by the HST team?

[mhoward]

I have yet to see this image.
Someone please post it here!

It's showing up in the lead post now. I didn't see it there before.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/po...20791/img/1.jpg

[Rob Pinnegar]

Peculiar that so many people had trouble viewing the map of Pluto in this thread. I happened upon it pretty soon after it was first posted, and had no difficulty at all. Strange.

The idea of taking some images of Triton with HST seems like a good one. Is it just a matter of getting time on the machine? I suppose glare from Neptune might be a bit troublesome, but it shouldn't be _that_ big of a problem. It would be interesting to compare any such images with those from Voyager -- some of the largest features seen in 1989 should be visible.

[Jyril]

Triton has been imaged by Hubble.

This image of Triton was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope's Faint Object Camera in September of 1995. It was created from a blue and ultraviolet image. The color is false but closely matches the color observed from voyager images. Triton appears to be roughly 10% darker than in images taken by the Voyager 2 spacecraft. Also note that the equatorial region is bright, but there is a darker region around the pole. With Triton's long seasons, the southern summer has been progressing, and the south pole has received increasing sunlight; thus, it is probable that much of the frost covering the region in 1989 has evaporated, some of which may have condensed at the equator (hence the bright region there). This image truly pushes the limit of HST's resolving power. The image is centered at roughly 215 degrees latitude.

[tedstryk]

Triton has been imaged by Hubble.

Yes, and if you look on the credit you will see that I processed that image. What I am saying is that I would like it to be imaged by the ACS. That image set was from the FOC, like the old Pluto map.

Here are my three faces of Triton from the set. Triton shows some tantalizing hints of details, but little else. I used the visible images.



Here are maps made at UV and visible wavelength by Bryan Flynn using the 1995 data set.



Here are Flynn's versions of the images. The UV ones show the most detail. I did similar processing on one of the images to make the Triton image for the composite with Neptune I made, although I smoothed it a lot to make it look more realistic.

[tedstryk]

Here's the picture of Pluto: http://www.shadow-lady.com/pluto/plutolay_1x1.gif

Here is a somewhat improved version...

I will say since I noticed no one has commented that my link is to the real map.

[tedstryk]

Given how limited data is, it is comforting to see that both HST maps and the mutual event maps have a lot of common features. I really wonder what that big dark region is.

[JRehling]

Given how limited data is, it is comforting to see that both HST maps and the mutual event maps have a lot of common features.  I really wonder what that big dark region is.

I suppose the leading candidates would be either an impact basin (less exciting) or something like Galileo Regio on Ganymede -- a large geographical province surrounded by areas altered once, in the distant past, by tectonism. The fact that Pluto is tidally locked onto Charon means that there was some tidal heat at some time -- maybe enough to ganymedize it? That would be exciting.

Least exciting would be if the light areas are ray systems and the dark areas are lack of ray systems.

[ljk4-1]

I suppose the leading candidates would be either an impact basin (less exciting) or something like Galileo Regio on Ganymede -- a large geographical province surrounded by areas altered once, in the distant past, by tectonism. The fact that Pluto is tidally locked onto Charon means that there was some tidal heat at some time -- maybe enough to ganymedize it? That would be exciting.

Least exciting would be if the light areas are ray systems and the dark areas are lack of ray systems.

What if it is material spewed out from a geyser like on Triton, which leaves dark markings on the surface.

[tedstryk]

What if it is material spewed out from a geyser like on Triton, which leaves dark markings on the surface.

Something that dark and big would either require huge geysers or a heck of a lot of little ones.