New Horizons: Approach Phase, OpsNav - 25 January 15 to 28 June 15 |
New Horizons: Approach Phase, OpsNav - 25 January 15 to 28 June 15 |
Mar 10 2015, 11:23 AM
Post
#16
|
||
Member Group: Members Posts: 568 Joined: 20-April 05 From: Silesia Member No.: 299 |
It's incredible, from Pluto separates us only one astronomical unit !
The last nine years have passed so quickly, to meet with Pluto remained only a little over one hundred days. -------------------- Free software for planetary science (including Cassini Image Viewer).
http://members.tripod.com/petermasek/marinerall.html |
|
|
||
Mar 10 2015, 04:47 PM
Post
#17
|
|
Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8783 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
Alan just announced on social media that the recent TCM was nominal.
-------------------- 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.
|
|
|
Mar 23 2015, 04:11 PM
Post
#18
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 423 Joined: 13-November 14 From: Norway Member No.: 7310 |
Now, if I've understood this blogpost correctly and not made any mistakes, here should be all of the best-of-the-day (and best yet) non-binned NH images taken between 1 Februrary and 12 July with the corresponding estimated sizes of Pluto and Charon in pixels (as viewed with LORRI).
Using 2400 km as diameter for Pluto, 1207 km for Charon and rounding to nearest integer. Green marks the first non-binned imaging session that month. 01.02: 973 km/px - Pluto 2 pixels across, Charon 1 pixel 12.04: 551 km/px - Pluto 4 pixels across, Charon 2 pixels 13.04: 545 km/px - Pluto 4 pixels across, Charon 2 pixels 14.04: 539 km/px - Pluto 4 pixels across, Charon 2 pixels 15.04: 533 km/px - Pluto 5 pixels across, Charon 2 pixels 16.04: 528 km/px - Pluto 5 pixels across, Charon 2 pixels 17.04: 522 km/px - Pluto 5 pixels across, Charon 2 pixels 18.04: 516 km/px - Pluto 5 pixels across, Charon 2 pixels 19.04: 514 km/px - Pluto 5 pixels across, Charon 2 pixels 28.05: 281 km/px - Pluto 9 pixels across, Charon 4 pixels 29.05: 276 km/px - Pluto 9 pixels across, Charon 4 pixels 30.05: 269 km/px - Pluto 9 pixels across, Charon 4 pixels 31.05: 265 km/px - Pluto 9 pixels across, Charon 5 pixels 01.06: 258 km/px - Pluto 9 pixels across, Charon 5 pixels 02.06: 253 km/px - Pluto 9 pixels across, Charon 5 pixels 03.06: 242 km/px - Pluto 10 pixels across, Charon 5 pixels 05.06: 234 km/px - Pluto 10 pixels across, Charon 5 pixels 06.06: 229 km/px - Pluto 10 pixels across, Charon 5 pixels 07.06: 222 km/px - Pluto 11 pixels across, Charon 5 pixels 08.06: 217 km/px - Pluto 11 pixels across, Charon 6 pixels 09.06: 210 km/px - Pluto 11 pixels across, Charon 6 pixels 10.06: 205 km/px - Pluto 12 pixels across, Charon 6 pixels 11.06: 198 km/px - Pluto 12 pixels across, Charon 6 pixels 12.06: 193 km/px - Pluto 12 pixels across, Charon 6 pixels 13.06: 183 km/px - Pluto 13 pixels across, Charon 7 pixels 15.06: 174 km/px - Pluto 14 pixels across, Charon 7 pixels 16.06: 169 km/px - Pluto 14 pixels across, Charon 7 pixels 17.06: 162 km/px - Pluto 15 pixels across, Charon 7 pixels 18.06: 158 km/px - Pluto 15 pixels across, Charon 8 pixels 19.06: 151 km/px - Pluto 16 pixels across, Charon 8 pixels 20.06: 146 km/px - Pluto 16 pixels across, Charon 8 pixels 21.06: 139 km/px - Pluto 17 pixels across, Charon 9 pixels 22.06: 134 km/px - Pluto 18 pixels across, Charon 9 pixels 23.06: 122 km/px - Pluto 20 pixels across, Charon 10 pixels 25.06: 110 km/px - Pluto 22 pixels across, Charon 11 pixels 27.06: 98.4 km/px - Pluto 24 pixels across, Charon 12 pixels 29.06: 86.5 km/px - Pluto 28 pixels across, Charon 14 pixels 01.07: 74.7 km/px - Pluto 32 pixels across, Charon 16 pixels 03.07: 62.6 km/px - Pluto 38 pixels across, Charon 19 pixels 05.07: 50.9 km/px - Pluto 47 pixels across, Charon 24 pixels 07.07: 39.0 km/px - Pluto 62 pixels across, Charon 31 pixels 09.07: 27.1 km/px - Pluto 89 pixels across, Charon 45 pixels 11.07: 15.2 km/px - Pluto 158 pixels across, Charon 79 pixels 12.07: 12.7 km/px - Pluto 189 pixels across, Charon 96 pixels -------------------- |
|
|
Mar 30 2015, 08:20 AM
Post
#19
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 107 Joined: 1-August 14 Member No.: 7227 |
Now, if I've understood this blogpost correctly and not made any mistakes, here should be all of the best-of-the-day (and best yet) non-binned NH images taken between 1 Februrary and 12 July with the corresponding estimated sizes of Pluto and Charon in pixels (as viewed with LORRI). Using 2400 km as diameter for Pluto, 1207 km for Charon and rounding to nearest integer. Green marks the first non-binned imaging session that month. 12.04: 551 km/px - Pluto 4 pixels across, Charon 2 pixels [...] 03.06: 242 km/px - Pluto 10 pixels across, Charon 5pixels It is not very clear to me when the "Hubble limit" will be crossed: according to this blog post, the Hubble limit is around 800 km/pixel and Pluto being 3 pixel large, but according to this page, at least 250 km/pixel resolution (pluto ~=10 pixel) can be reached by processing, obtaining these images: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/s...o-20100204.html In first case, we would be currently crossing Hubble limit; in second case, we would be going to cross it in June. Amazing achievements in both cases! But we'll have to be patient: QUOTE * LORRI's detector is 1024 pixels square. Like many modern space cameras, when the camera reads out its detector, it digitizes each pixel as a 12-bit number. they can be zipped up to about 2.5 Megabits without any loss of detail. It takes 42 minutes to return one LORRI photo to Earth [on January 2015; on July/september, communication will be slower] http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakda...to-is-hard.html QUOTE *There are few data downlinks near closest approach, so we will not receive many images in real time. But the ones we get will be great. *The mission has promised to release LORRI images (higher-resolution, black-and-white) in near-real-time, but not MVIC (lower-resolution, color) images. *Only 1% of the science data from the flyby will be returned to Earth during the period around closest approach, including images that the mission has selected for their high science value as well as high public interest. They will be releasing captioned and processed versions as fast as their small team can manage. *The rest of the image data will be downlinked beginning in September, about 2 months after encounter. It will take 10 weeks to download the full data set. [...] On September 14, New Horizons will begin downlinking a "browse" version of the entire Pluto data set, in which all images will be lossily compressed. It will take about 10 weeks to get that data set to the ground. There will be compression artifacts, but we'll see the entire data set. Then, around November 16, New Horizons will begin to downlink the entire science data set losslessly compressed. It will take a year to complete that process. http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakda...pectations.html |
|
|
Mar 30 2015, 11:03 AM
Post
#20
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 796 Joined: 27-February 08 From: Heart of Europe Member No.: 4057 |
Resolution is given by diffraction limit which depends on telescope's main mirror diameter, wavelength of electromagnetic radiation and overall quality of optical system.
For past observations of Pluto by HST's FOC and ACS/HRC cameras resolution was between 610 (FOC in UV) and 1270 kilometers (HRC at 555 microns). -------------------- |
|
|
Mar 30 2015, 11:09 AM
Post
#21
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 423 Joined: 13-November 14 From: Norway Member No.: 7310 |
The official word is better than Hubble at some point in May.
https://twitter.com/NewHorizons2015/status/...766844947456000 -------------------- |
|
|
Apr 3 2015, 01:52 PM
Post
#22
|
|
Interplanetary Dumpster Diver Group: Admin Posts: 4404 Joined: 17-February 04 From: Powell, TN Member No.: 33 |
It is not very clear to me when the "Hubble limit" will be crossed: according to this blog post, the Hubble limit is around 800 km/pixel and Pluto being 3 pixel large, but according to this page, at least 250 km/pixel resolution (pluto ~=10 pixel) can be reached by processing, obtaining these images: McGyver, the difference is between super-resolution processing and the actual resolution of the camera. And since the ACS/HRC channel is long-dead, HST is no longer capable of mapping Pluto (other than hemispheric albedo differences). -------------------- |
|
|
Apr 3 2015, 07:35 PM
Post
#23
|
|
Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 95 Joined: 5-September 07 Member No.: 3662 |
IIRC, the image is actually renders of a mathematical model of the albedo distribution on Pluto's surface that was created to match the HST images, which only had a couple of resolution elements across Pluto, not an image constructed from super resolution.
Similar models were made based on the data from the Pluto-Charon mutual eclipses back in the... 80's and early 90's I believe it was. I worked on a different project with Dave Tholen, who authored the occultation papers with Mark Buie (there was an independent take on the eclipses by Binzel). The idea on those maps was to recreate the light curves of the mutual eclipses that were visible due to fortuitous alignment of the system. Charon, for example, would pass over different areas of Pluto's surface, and the brightness of the system would drop a lot if the area was bright, or only a little if the area was dark. Each eclipse basically gave a "cut" across Pluto's surface, and a lot of numerical modeling resulted in a map of Pluto's surface that would yield the observed light curves. Really cool and clever stuff. |
|
|
Apr 10 2015, 12:10 AM
Post
#24
|
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2077 Joined: 13-February 10 From: Ontario Member No.: 5221 |
A pair of briefings coming up next week:
http://www.nasa.gov/press/2015/april/nasa-...ssion-to-pluto/ |
|
|
Apr 14 2015, 05:07 PM
Post
#25
|
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2077 Joined: 13-February 10 From: Ontario Member No.: 5221 |
|
|
|
Apr 14 2015, 05:50 PM
Post
#26
|
||
Member Group: Members Posts: 112 Joined: 31-January 15 From: Houston, TX USA Member No.: 7390 |
First color New Horizon's image of Pluto/Charon:
http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/News-A...p?page=20150414 First glance it looks like the lower part of the Pluto image is less red than the upper part. Perhaps that is just an artifact of the image processing or the solar angle? Andy |
|
|
||
Apr 14 2015, 05:56 PM
Post
#27
|
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2077 Joined: 13-February 10 From: Ontario Member No.: 5221 |
I would be loath to make any interpretations; this still isn't BTH (Better Than Hubble), for now.
|
|
|
Apr 14 2015, 06:07 PM
Post
#28
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 423 Joined: 13-November 14 From: Norway Member No.: 7310 |
With MVIC, Pluto is currently...what, 1-2 pixels across?
-------------------- |
|
|
Apr 14 2015, 06:11 PM
Post
#29
|
|
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 5172 Joined: 4-August 05 From: Pasadena, CA, USA, Earth Member No.: 454 |
MVIC resolution in that image is 2274 km, just a bit under 1 Pluto diameter.
-------------------- My website - My Patreon - @elakdawalla on Twitter - Please support unmannedspaceflight.com by donating here.
|
|
|
Apr 14 2015, 06:27 PM
Post
#30
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 102 Joined: 12-August 12 Member No.: 6540 |
|
|
|
Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 18th April 2024 - 01:50 AM |
RULES AND GUIDELINES Please read the Forum Rules and Guidelines before posting. IMAGE COPYRIGHT |
OPINIONS AND MODERATION Opinions expressed on UnmannedSpaceflight.com are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of UnmannedSpaceflight.com or The Planetary Society. The all-volunteer UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderation team is wholly independent of The Planetary Society. The Planetary Society has no influence over decisions made by the UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderators. |
SUPPORT THE FORUM Unmannedspaceflight.com is funded by the Planetary Society. Please consider supporting our work and many other projects by donating to the Society or becoming a member. |