Pluto Surface Observations 3: NH Post-Encounter Phase, 1 Feb 2016- TBD Options

[ZLD]

Not sure if this is the best place to post this but thought I post a teaser of what I've been working on.



The atmospheric glow is a composite from the MVIC look back and the color for the terrain has been morphed tirelessly from the global MVIC image with further color enhancements to bring out details better. Interesting to note, I didn't realize the MVIC crescent image actually captured much of the alpine terrain on Pluto. Its exceptionally difficult to see but at the far left of the image, a slight red band gives indication to the location of the mountains. This red band travels north to south on the eastern edge of the mountains.

Also, in the final version, this will be animated from the global view to the crescent at 3420x1460 if I can find a proper host for 4K video content. Working on the very edge of the crescent is tedious but its the last area to work on.

[alan]

A screen capture from livestream of the Masurkey Lecture at about 34:00




ETA: From First Year of Mapping lecture, the shading is ratio of brightness of two images, brighter is more forward scattering (smoother?)

[Habukaz]

In case anyone missed it:

Now from @AlanStern: models indicate Pluto's atmospheric pressure is currently atypically low - can reach high enough for liquid nitrogen!

Extremes in atmosphere model can have surface pressures substantially exceeding those of Mars!

This might provide an avenue for understanding some of the features on Pluto's surface as created by flowing liquid. How wild is that?

https://twitter.com/Alex_Parker/status/711966613499580417

Rick Binzel, New Horizons: Last time Pluto may have had climate extreme allowing liquid nitrogen on surface was <1 million yrs ago

https://twitter.com/StephenClark1/status/711970940691689472

The left image of PIA20151 may be from an unreleased MVIC:

http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20151

In any case, I don't recall that part of Sputnik showing up in LORRI imagery.

I guess this "angry face" image is also part of an unpublished MVIC panorama:



https://twitter.com/cosmoquestX/status/712374337701949440

[alan]

Pluto paper at arXiv

Pluto's global surface composition through pixel-by-pixel Hapke modeling of New Horizons Ralph/LEISA data

[qraal]

Those look so much like those convection cells that form in a flat pan of heavy oil. I have to wonder just how much heat flow is driving that welling up.

A screen capture from livestream of the Masurkey Lecture at about 34:00




ETA: From First Year of Mapping lecture, the shading is ratio of brightness of two images, brighter is more forward scattering (smoother?)

[AndyG]

Those look so much like those convection cells that form in a flat pan of heavy oil. I have to wonder just how much heat flow is driving that welling up.

I've produced similar convection cells in a pan of thinners with a little aluminium primer paint in it, using just the heat of my fingers on the base of the pan: so maybe not much heat at all - you just need gravity, a heat gradient, and time.

Andy

[alan]

Bright halos around some craters are methane ice:

In the lower image, composition data from New Horizons’ Ralph/Linear Etalon Imaging Spectral Array (LEISA) indicate a connection between the bright halos and distribution of methane ice, shown in false color as purple. The floors and terrain between craters show signs of water ice, colored in blue. Exactly why the bright methane ice settles on these crater rims and walls is a mystery; also puzzling is why this same effect doesn’t occur broadly across Pluto.

http://www.nasa.gov/feature/pluto-s-halo-craters

[Herobrine]

Slightly uncertain about which thread this belongs in, but using my best judgement and posting it here.
With a lot of older approach imagery finally making it down to Earth, I've been doing some stuff with it and wanted to just share this little animation that was a byproduct of what I'm working on because I think it looks kinda neat.
Here's an animation of approach imagery from July 7th to July 10th (after that, Pluto and Charon were imaged separately).
The scale has been adjusted for each frame to correct for the change in distance and they've been rotated to have Charon coming down at a 45-degree angle from Pluto. The animation plays at 267,375 times actual speed.

(click for full-size)

[scalbers]

Newly available, though I'm unsure if it would be full resolution. Look at all the pits on Sputnik Planum, particularly in the southern part.

http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/th...utionnoodle.jpg

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-horizons-b...-plutos-surface

[Habukaz]

Nice new interview with Bill McKinnon about Sputnik Planum and its convective cells (audio): http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-36428360

Edit: related: http://www.nasa.gov/feature/pluto-s-heart-...osmic-lava-lamp

[Paolo]

and two papers in this week's Nature:
Vigorous convection as the explanation for Pluto’s polygonal terrain
Convection in a volatile nitrogen-ice-rich layer drives Pluto’s geological vigour

[wildespace]

I've just had a question about the backlit shots of Pluto. Has the Sun ever appeared in LORRI's field of view, and are there any images of it there?

I'm asking because LORRI doesn't have a shutter, and a NASA video shows the Sun going behind Pluto and out again: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/art...lyby-Pluto.html

On a related topic, has anyone made timelapse videos out of the "sun glare" LORRI images, like this one? http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/soc/Pluto-Encounte...mgType=approved

Thank you.

[alan]

To access the Pluto convection articles in Nature follow the links from this Guardian article

[Herobrine]

I wanted to point out that today's LORRI release includes some great stuff that fills in several gaps in the approach imagery from 1.6 million down to 380,000 km between July 13th and 14th.
Today's release included images from the following imaging sequences that I don't believe we've seen before:
P_CLOUD_1
P_CLOUD_2_b
P_CLOUD_3_b
PC_MULTI_LONG_1d2a_02
PC_MULTI_LONG_1d2b
P_LORRI_TIMERES_2
C_LORRI_FULLFRAME_2
P_LORRI_TIMERES_4

Also, I wanted to mention that, in addition to the "LORRI frames by upload date to SOC" site (which I am still updating once a week), I've added a second site for LORRI frames by acquire date. It's in mostly the same format as the other one, but breaks the imagery down by the day New Horizons acquired the image instead of when it was published (also, it doesn't include the Jupiter encounter yet).

[rboerner]

now that the backlit Pluto pictures are out, is there a chance we might get hi-resolution imagery of the 'far' side in Charonshine?