New Horizons In The Asteroid Belt, Summer - Autumn 2006 |
New Horizons In The Asteroid Belt, Summer - Autumn 2006 |
Aug 22 2006, 02:08 PM
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#16
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1018 Joined: 29-November 05 From: Seattle, WA, USA Member No.: 590 |
Although note that the way the "Where Is New Horizons Now" page is drawn, it looks as though the asteroid belt extends right up to the orbit of Jupiter.
http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/mission/whereis_nh.php |
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Aug 22 2006, 02:18 PM
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#17
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Member Group: Members Posts: 648 Joined: 9-May 05 From: Subotica Member No.: 384 |
Although note that the way the "Where Is New Horizons Now" page is drawn, it looks as though the asteroid belt extends right up to the orbit of Jupiter. Why? How it should be drawn? I don't get it... -------------------- The scientist does not study nature because it is useful; he studies it because he delights in it, and he delights in it because it is beautiful.
Jules H. Poincare My "Astrophotos" gallery on flickr... |
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Aug 22 2006, 02:59 PM
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#18
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3648 Joined: 1-October 05 From: Croatia Member No.: 523 |
I think Greg is mistaking those white pixels as asteroids. These are apparently stars brighter than magnitude 12. They aren't very convincing, though -- no brightness variation, no nothing... What's the FOV of these projections supposed to be, without it the starfield has no meaning?
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Aug 22 2006, 03:36 PM
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#19
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Member Group: Members Posts: 509 Joined: 2-July 05 From: Calgary, Alberta Member No.: 426 |
If those are stars of magnitude 12 or brighter the FOV has to be miniscule -- miniscule enough that the starfield wouldn't have any meaning regardless of whether stars of different magnitude were given different symbols.
There's not much chance that any of the stars depicted there are bright enough to be seen without binoculars or a telescope. Remember that the density of stars goes up exponentially with increasing magnitude; I don't remember the exact relation, but that's the long and short of it. Just from a statistical standpoint it's unlikely anything there is brighter than maybe magnitude 9 or so. An FOV wide enough to show recognizable constellations would be so jam-packed with dots representing 12th-magnitude stars that you wouldn't be able to see anything else. My guess is that this view is from a few thousand AUs out -- which would minimize perspective effects. |
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Aug 23 2006, 03:50 AM
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#20
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1018 Joined: 29-November 05 From: Seattle, WA, USA Member No.: 590 |
I think ugordon is right. I just didn't look closely enough -- otherwise I should have complained that there were too many "asteroids" inside the orbit of Earth!
Sorry about that . . . --Greg |
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Aug 24 2006, 01:03 AM
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#21
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Member Group: Members Posts: 540 Joined: 25-October 05 From: California Member No.: 535 |
??
Um... You didn't know those were stars? Just wondering -------------------- 2011 JPL Tweetup photos: http://www.rich-parno.com/aa_jpltweetup.html
http://human-spaceflight.blogspot.com |
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Aug 24 2006, 03:25 AM
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#22
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1018 Joined: 29-November 05 From: Seattle, WA, USA Member No.: 590 |
?? Um... You didn't know those were stars? Just wondering Well, I love checking those things for the various probes, so I do know they're stars, but for this one I guess I had "asteroid belt" so firmly in my mind that that's what I saw in there. As John Kennedy said, "Some people see things that are and say, 'huh?' I see things that aren't there and say 'oh wow!'" --Greg (Well, almost) :-) |
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Guest_AlexBlackwell_* |
Sep 1 2006, 09:46 PM
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#23
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Guests |
Pluto-Bound Camera Sees 'First Light'
New Horizons Payload Fully Operational as Telescopic Imager Glimpses Star Cluster For Immediate Release September 1, 2006 http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/news_center/news/090106.html |
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Sep 1 2006, 09:59 PM
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#24
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1636 Joined: 9-May 05 From: Lima, Peru Member No.: 385 |
This is a very important milestone since it is the first time that all 7 instruments start to operate fully, that is about almost after 8 months of dormant trip. At least all of them are in good conditions.
Rodolfo |
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Sep 2 2006, 01:15 AM
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#25
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1887 Joined: 20-November 04 From: Iowa Member No.: 110 |
How dare you bump the New Horizon thread above the Pluto is / is not a planet discussion
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Sep 2 2006, 03:48 AM
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#26
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Member Group: Members Posts: 477 Joined: 2-March 05 Member No.: 180 |
Well if you'll note, the category is called "Pluto/KBO". It's lumped right in there with the other KBO's anyway, so it seems the decision has inadvertently been made already, eh? mHMMMMM?
Good to know that NH is in good shape. Hopefully it doesn't accumulate too much dust and who-knows-what-else on the lens like Cassini did. It's sure got a long trip ahead of it. To those who are arguing about Pluto's planetness - hey, it's still got its very own probe headed to it no matter what we call it. That's got to count for something. Planet or not, I'm definitely going to be looking out for the data as it arrives from way the heck out there. I still just love the look of the probe too - it looks like a huge antenna that just happens to be bringing an instrument pack along for the ride. |
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Sep 2 2006, 04:22 AM
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#27
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 87 Joined: 19-June 05 Member No.: 415 |
If those are stars of magnitude 12 or brighter the FOV has to be miniscule -- miniscule enough that the starfield wouldn't have any meaning regardless of whether stars of different magnitude were given different symbols. From http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/Master...6-001A&ex=1 The New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) is a panchromatic narrow angle imager. .... It consists of a 20.8 cm aperture telescope which focuses visible light on a 1024 x 1024 pixel CCD. There are no filters or moving parts. The instrument has a 5.06 x 5.06 milliradian field of view with a resolution of 0.00494 milliradians/pixel. Also available at http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/spacecraft/instruments.html and from http://www.boulder.swri.edu/~layoung/proje...nitude%22%20%22 LORRI limiting magnitude requirement, 4x4 binned. mode, 9.9 sec exposure is V = 17.4. 5 mrad is a little under 1/3 of a degree, or 2/3 the diameter of our Moon in the sky. Given that it can make 10 sec exlposures and see stars down to 17th magnitude, there are an enormous range of star clusters it can see. |
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Guest_PhilCo126_* |
Feb 1 2007, 07:21 PM
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#28
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Guests |
So we can conclude this topic by stating that the New Horizons flew through the asteroid belt between May and August 2006
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