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[jchap]

I'm a layman when it comes to Planetary science and Cosmology. The Explorer was launched in January 2006, presumingly with an outdated architecture, academic knowledge and research and components. If a probe was released today, in what time could it reach Pluto again by? Timeline wise?

It would be slower today due to the position in relation to Jupiter and Saturn. If today's technology was used in the same conditions we would get there no sooner. We would be able to process information faster and maybe have improved imaging.

 

[LookAtMeGo]

Did I miss it? Have the photos from this am been released?

 

[Seanspeed]

You guys seem like you know your stuff about light years and space..

You know how we get a image of a planet and they say it's 15 million light years away does that mean we're looking at an image of a planet and how it looked 15 million years ago?

Well yea, but we don't exactly have any images of planets 15 million light years away. But with stars and whatnot, yes, absolutely. And considering that light travels at 186,000 miles per *second*, imagining how far light can travel in 15,000,000 years is almost too much to comprehend.

 

[Ray Wonder]

What are the chances that there's a Pluto shaped head on Pluto. That's some crazy shit. If someone draws it on there better it is basically exact. Skinny ear, tall top of head, long snout, skinny neck.

On top of everything else amazing about seeing Pluto.

 

[GtwoK]

Anyone have the original "best" photo of Pluto that we've been using for years? The one that's only, like 4 pixels wide.

Want to make a comparison.

 

[Ray Wonder]

Anyone have the original "best" photo of Pluto that we've been using for years? The one that's only, like 4 pixels wide.

Want to make a comparison.

 

[pulsemyne]

You guys seem like you know your stuff about light years and space..

You know how we get a image of a planet and they say it's 15 million light years away does that mean we're looking at an image of a planet and how it looked 15 million years ago?

We cannot view a planet 15 millions light years away. We can barely view individual stars at that distance (optically would be difficult certainly but infra red and radio we can) and yes it is how they looked 15 million years ago.

 

[Crispy75]

You guys seem like you know your stuff about light years and space..

You know how we get a image of a planet and they say it's 15 million light years away does that mean we're looking at an image of a planet and how it looked 15 million years ago?

Yep. When we look at the most distant galaxies (>10b light years away), we can safely assume that most of the stars we're looking at no longer exist, having reached the end of their lives, exploded and their remnants coalesced into new stars.

 

[Portugeezer]

You guys seem like you know your stuff about light years and space..

You know how we get a image of a planet and they say it's 15 million light years away does that mean we're looking at an image of a planet and how it looked 15 million years ago?

Yes, 1 light year is how far light travels in a year. 15 million would be 15 million years. You are technically looking back in time... but we don't have any detailed images of things that incredibly far away.

Pluto images took only about 4 hours to receive, according to NASA.

The closest solar system to ours is about 4 light years away, so even if we could ever travel at 1/5th the speed of light it would take 20 years to get there.

 

[Melchiah]

"Yuggoth... is a strange dark orb at the very rim of our solar system... There are mighty cities on Yuggoth—great tiers of terraced towers built of black stone... The sun shines there no brighter than a star, but the beings need no light. They have other subtler senses, and put no windows in their great houses and temples... The black rivers of pitch that flow under those mysterious cyclopean bridges—things built by some elder race extinct and forgotten before the beings came to Yuggoth from the ultimate voids—ought to be enough to make any man a Dante or Poe if he can keep sane long enough to tell what he has seen..."
— H. P. Lovecraft, The Whisperer in Darkness

 

[Log4Girlz]

God, please let the electric, physics breaking engine be real. .. please.

 

[JetForceGemini]

Well yea, but we don't exactly have any images of planets 15 million light years away. But with stars and whatnot, yes, absolutely. And considering that light travels at 186,000 miles per *second*, imagining how far light can travel in 15,000,000 years is almost too much to comprehend.

We cannot view a planet 15 millions light years away. We can barely view individual stars at that distance (optically would be difficult certainly but infra red and radio we can) and yes it is how they looked 15 million years ago.

Sorry for the ignorance, but is it safe to assume that there is other life out there but since we're looking from however many light years away the planet is from that the planet has since exploded or died(once again, sorry if those are the wrong terms to use)

 

[Crispy75]

Did I miss it? Have the photos from this am been released?

The latest photo is already on this thread, (best qulaity version here: http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/tn-p_lorri_fullframe_color.png)

We get a good look at Charon tomorrow morning, and a few high-res surface pics of Pluto in the evening. Thursday will bring similar hi-res images of the surface of Charon. A few more pluto surface pics on the weekend, then after that it's nothing till September when a 10 week download starts. Even then, it will be a compressed "atlas" of images. The uncompressed photos will be downloading for a YEAR.

 

[GK86]

I'm a layman when it comes to Planetary science and Cosmology. The Explorer was launched in January 2006, presumingly with an outdated architecture, academic knowledge and research and components. If a probe was released today, in what time could it reach Pluto again by? Timeline wise?

Got there faster due to using Jupiter as a slingshot.

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

I was noticing this this morning

180 degree shot on here certainly looks like the same view as

 

[Portugeezer]

Sorry for the ignorance, but is it safe to assume that there is other life out there but since we're looking from however many light years away the planet is from that the planet has since exploded or died(once again, sorry if those are the wrong terms to use)

It's not safe to assume, however because Space is so big (hundreds of billions of galaxies with hundreds of billions of stars each, most stars of which will have planets, etc...), even a small probability is still big.

Problem is that WE still do not know exactly how life began, how chemical reactions became biological, so how can you make an accurate probability?

We could find some form of evidence of life from our own solar system, whether it be microbial fossils on Mars or from the moons of Jupiter (Europa ocean)

 

[Seanspeed]

Sorry for the ignorance, but is it safe to assume that there is other life out there but since we're looking from however many light years away the planet is from that the planet has since exploded or died(once again, sorry if those are the wrong terms to use)

Earth is 4.6 billion years old and has had some form of life on it for the majority of that time. So 15 million years isn't a huge amount of time. 15 million light years covers not only our own galaxy(only 100,000 light years across), but a fair few others(nearest galaxy is 2.2 million light years), leaving us with a pretty incredible number of opportunities for life within such a span.

 

[Crispy75]

I reckon there's a >50/50 chance of microbial life being found elsewhere in the solar system within my lifetime.

 

[owlbeak]

Amazing photo released this morning. Can't wait for some even closer pics!

 

[Seanspeed]

I reckon there's a >50/50 chance of microbial life being found elsewhere in the solar system within my lifetime.

There is definitely a very good chance Europa's got something going on. If it doesn't, then chances will drop pretty significantly, though.

 

[SliceSabre]

Huh so that's what the old planet looks like!

 

[Ray Wonder]

I was noticing this this morning



180 degree shot on here certainly looks like the same view as

Yeah I noticed that as well.

 

[Pejo]

That picture is amazing! Pluto, you so photogenic.

 

[LakeEarth]

I was noticing this this morning



180 degree shot on here certainly looks like the same view as

Excellent catch, it lines up near perfectly.

 

[Seanspeed]

That picture is amazing! Pluto, you so photogenic.

It really is more beautiful than I expected. I kinda pictured a generally featureless, potted orb without any particular distinguishing characteristics, like you'd see in many of the lesser moons of Jupiter or Saturn or something.

 

[jerry113]

Reminds me a lot of Mars.

 

[Radec]

Pluto looks good man.

All I've been thinking of the last few days is how, in 500 years, there's going to be at least one person who is going to envy me just for being alive during the initial reconnaissance of the solar system.

Dude in 500 years they can probably travel to those planets!

 

[Fried Food]

We should be getting more photos later today right? The one they are showing now is from yesterday.

 

[Seanspeed]

We should be getting more photos later today right? The one they are showing now is from yesterday.

I wouldn't expect any new pictures until tomorrow at the earliest.

They're still looking at Pluto.

 

[AmyS]

When will New Horizons have its closest approach to that planet on a highly elliptical orbit ?

 

[Walshicus]

We should give Pluto "planet status" for historical reasons. It will always be my favorite planet after Earth.

Ceres has a much better claim to that though. Pluto just ain't that special, as cool as New Horizons is.

 

[thesuperfunk]

Breathtaking photos!

 

[Piggus]

Pretty nice textures. Must be the PC version version of Pluto. Hopefully won't be downgraded.

 

[Seanspeed]

When will New Horizons have its closest approach to that planet on a highly elliptical orbit ?

I don't think we're heading back around. I was under the impression they were shooting straight off to intersect other prime Kuiper Belt objects. Its certainly still heading straight off at the moment:

 

[GK86]

It is heading towards the kuiper belt.

 

[Regulus Tera]

amazing

 

[Seanspeed]

It is heading towards the kuiper belt.

Well its already in the Kuiper Belt. Pluto is technically just a KBO(Kuiper Belt Object), so I guess it depends on where exactly their next target is.

 

[Mika]

When will New Horizons have its closest approach to that planet on a highly elliptical orbit ?

Rykros

Spoiler

Sedna

is on the other side of the sun right now, so it'll have to wait. =(

 

[wagamer]

When will New Horizons have its closest approach to that planet on a highly elliptical orbit ?

You mean the hypothetical and most certainly disproven Nibiru/Planet X?

 

[The Cowboy]

When will New Horizons have its closest approach to that planet on a highly elliptical orbit ?

Your talking about Sedna right?, i hope I'm still alive to see good pictures of that planet when it gets to its closet point - which is in 2075/6.

To think, once it gets to its closet point in 2075/6 it won't be there again for 11,400 years - that's one hell of an orbit.

I mean, Pluto's orbit is the purple one on this pic, Sedna's is red - like WOW.

 

[Vyer]

Getting to follow along with this has been awesome. It's a good glimpse into what it would be like with modern Internet, media and social media were to have access to an active space program.

 

[Crispy75]

I don't think we're heading back around. I was under the impression they were shooting straight off to intersect other prime Kuiper Belt objects. Its certainly still heading straight off at the moment:

This page has a nice couple of images showing the orbit of the next likely target. It'll be a "classical" KBO, orbiting in the plane of the ecliptic and much much smaller than Pluto.

http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/space-images/small-bodies/orbits-of-pluto-and-pt1.html

EDIT: The rotating GIF illustrates why this mission happened when it did - Pluto's inclined orbit intersects the plane of the ecliptic at this time, making it easier to get to.

 

[Rabbi_Vole]

Your talking abut Sedna right?, i hope I'm still alive to see good pictures of that planet when it gets to its closet point - which is in 2075/6.

To think, once it gets to its closet point in 2075/6 it won't be there again for 11,400 years - that's one hell of an orbit.

I mean, Pluto's orbit is the purple one on this pic, Sedna's is red - like WOW.

How do we know Sedna exists?

 

[AmyS]

Rykros

Spoiler

Sedna

is on the other side of the sun right now, so it'll have to wait. =(

Mika got it!

 

[Seanspeed]

Your talking abut Sedna right?, i hope I'm still alive to see good pictures of that planet when it gets to its closet point - which is in 2075/6.

To think, once it gets to its closet point in 2075/6 it won't be there again for 11,400 years - that's one hell of an orbit.

I mean, Pluto's orbit is the purple one on this pic, Sedna's is red - like WOW.

This makes me a bit upset I never properly understood the significance of Hale-Bopp.

One of the brightest, most visible comets in recorded history and it wont be around again til 4385.

This page has a nice couple of images showing the orbit of the next likely target. It'll be a "classical" KBO, orbiting in the plane of the ecliptic and much much smaller than Pluto.

http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/space-images/small-bodies/orbits-of-pluto-and-pt1.html

Cool, thanks.

 

[Crispy75]

How do we know Sedna exists?

Here's a picture of it

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...a_PRC2004-14d.jpg/260px-Sedna_PRC2004-14d.jpg

If you know where it is, you can take multiple pictures and see it move. It's there alright.

 

[Rabbi_Vole]

This makes me a bit upset I never properly understood the significant of Hale-Bopp.

One of the brightest, most visible comets in recorded history and it wont be around again til 4385.


Ah ok, cool. I haven't played around with the app a ton.

We begged my neighbors mom to drive us to the observatory in Villa Rica to see it better.. It was amazing.

 

[Seanspeed]

We begged my neighbors mom to drive us to the observatory in Villa Rica to see it better.. It was amazing.

Aw fuck. Mad jealous.

 

[Rabbi_Vole]

Here's a picture of it

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...a_PRC2004-14d.jpg/260px-Sedna_PRC2004-14d.jpg

If you know where it is, you can take multiple pictures and see it move. It's there alright.

How big is it? Be it gas, rock or other?

 

[demon]

How big is it? Be it gas, rock or other?

Around 1000km diameter