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Pluto Surface Observations 2: NH Post-Encounter Phase, 10 Oct 2015- 1 Feb 2016
nprev
post Dec 24 2015, 12:21 PM
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MOD NOTE: Six posts concerning liquid N2 in Sputnik Planum moved to the Pluto System Speculation thread.


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Ron Hobbs
post Dec 24 2015, 08:59 PM
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Now this is cool, very cool!

Pluto through a Stained Glass Window - A Movie from the outer Solar System
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Gladstoner
post Dec 24 2015, 11:49 PM
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QUOTE (Daniele_bianchino_Italy @ Dec 19 2015, 01:23 PM) *
These 'flowers' crater resemble a volcanic crater :-/ or exsplosive glacial crater

I'm leaning toward some kind of karst-like process producing sinkholes. See:

Attached Image


The 'flower' pit and similar features are marked in green. Collapse pits within Sputnik Planum are marked in red. I believe these are all the same type of structure. The pitted nitrogen on the floor of the 'flower' could be a remnant of a once-more-extensive Sputnik. The close-ups of the Sputnik/highlands boundary indicate that the nitrogen deposit is eroding and receding here:

Attached Image
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HSchirmer
post Dec 26 2015, 02:25 PM
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Just noticed a rather interesting flicker gif from 2010
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakda.../2010/2334.html
that shows how much surface change has occurred!

It shows hubble images from 1994, then 2002


They're 90 degrees off the current higher resolution maps, needed a bit of stitching to give an idea of what the new
high resolution map should look like.

Anybody heard anything about backlit charonshine images recently?
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scalbers
post Dec 26 2015, 04:18 PM
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Yes, I've looked at these a bit, including an overlay of NH on HST data in my map. It does seem Cthulhu Regio is visible in both HST images and the pole is brightening over time as is otherwise hypothesized from seasonal change. Beyond that I can speculate that some of the differences are more from data processing than other wholesale changes?

On the map I used this image that merges 1994 HST data with Pluto/Charon mutual transit & occultation analysis.

Attached Image


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TheAnt
post Dec 26 2015, 10:22 PM
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QUOTE (scalbers @ Dec 26 2015, 05:18 PM) *
.... Beyond that I can speculate that some of the differences are more from data processing than other wholesale changes?


I tend to agree with that, if a major amount of frozen gases had melted it should have created a quite thick temporary atmosphere at Pluto, one that would have been hard to miss even by ground based telescopes. And there were also many observations of Pluto prior to the encounter by NH for planning images, satellite positions possible rings etc so I tend to think what's seen there is dataprocessing.

@Gladstoner: No one but be would be happier if those features had been created by processed similar to those found with glaciers.
Because I would understand them better then.
But I rather think they're created by some sort of melting/sublimation process of captured pockets of frozen gas.
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Gladstoner
post Dec 26 2015, 11:10 PM
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QUOTE (TheAnt @ Dec 26 2015, 04:22 PM) *
@Gladstoner: No one but be would be happier if those features had been created by processed similar to those found with glaciers.
Because I would understand them better then.
But I rather think they're created by some sort of melting/sublimation process of captured pockets of frozen gas.

Actually, if you're referring to the large sinkhole-like pits in the 'highlands', I believe we are close to agreement.
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HSchirmer
post Dec 27 2015, 12:11 AM
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QUOTE (TheAnt @ Dec 26 2015, 11:22 PM) *
if a major amount of frozen gases had melted
it should have created a quite thick temporary atmosphere at Pluto,
one that would have been hard to miss even by ground based telescopes.


Well, ground based scopes did look for that, but the results are weirder than that.

QUOTE
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015DPS....4721002T
With the weight of the atmosphere currently distributed evenly around the body, the ice temperature is expected to be globally isothermal in absence of topographic variations, due to the transport of latent heat from regions of high insolation to low insolation through sublimation and condensation.


Sunshine on N2 ice will thaw the ice on the dayside, but the N2 atmosphere redistributes the mass and heat so an equivalent amount of N2 freezes out on the nightside. All N2, ice or atmosphere, stays at the same temperature, now ~ 40k.

Interestingly, sunshine on H2O ice is different, telescope observations suggest it warms to 50k or so, so it behaves
more like normal "ground" which should generate thermals, upslope and downslope winds etc.

The "flower" craters could locations where sunlit peaks of H2O ice warm up, and drive sublimation of nearby N2 ice.

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alan
post Dec 30 2015, 10:21 PM
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https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/christmas-pluto

QUOTE
The resolution is about 7 kilometers per LEISA pixel. Three infrared wavelength ranges (2.28-2.23, 1.25-1.30 and 1.64-1.73 microns) were placed into the three color channels (red, green and blue, respectively) to create this false color Christmas portrait.


What do these wavelengths reveal about the composition?
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Phil Stooke
post Dec 31 2015, 12:29 AM
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The north pole is minty, with a dash of cranberry sauce around the equator.

Phil


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alan
post Jan 5 2016, 08:04 PM
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Some topography from Alan Stern's AAS presentation;
https://twitter.com/HeavyFe_H/status/684375289313538050
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Gladstoner
post Jan 5 2016, 08:34 PM
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QUOTE (alan @ Jan 5 2016, 02:04 PM) *
Some topography from Alan Stern's AAS presentation;
https://twitter.com/HeavyFe_H/status/684375289313538050

The trench near the bottom (blue-purple strip) is surprising:

Attached Image


It resembles a subduction zone. If the nitrogen of Sputnik is riding up over the less-dense water ice crust, that could explain how the huge bergs become detached.
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Gladstoner
post Jan 5 2016, 09:06 PM
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Also interesting is how this lake-appearing feature is actually higher than the surrounding terrain:

Attached Image
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JohnVV
post Jan 5 2016, 09:42 PM
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this is what i got a bit back for the image
http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/soc/Pluto-Encounte...;br>11:22:54
http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/soc/Pluto-Encounte...0x630_sci_4.jpg

from 11/24/2015
Image then a hightmap


mind you Pluto is NOT a good subject for using SFS on
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JRehling
post Jan 6 2016, 06:43 PM
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Edit: I'm curious as to how the different instruments used in the various Hubble/NH observations may have led to apparent changes, and how much is due to actual change versus how much is due to different wavelengths. We can never re-observe Pluto as it used to be (and the seasons won't repeat within anyone's lifetime), but we have an interesting record now of some different observations over a span of 20+ years.
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