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Pluto New Horizons |OT| New images. Pluto/Charon still geologically active
- Thread starter GK86
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Parallax Scroll
Banned
those must be some boring aliens if only two people cheered
bigboss370
Member
At last! someone that have the same idea i've had for a while!
What I think is what if another life form is just made in a way our eyes cant see, heck what if they are made of dark matter and there are worlds we cant even touch due to physical limitations.
I would love to read and talk more about this. Everytime I remember I may not see anything related happen I get sad
I recently began to think how wrong would it be from us if we are searching intelligent life in our timeframe. Let me explain with a completely nerdy example, ents from LoTR could take years to have a single conversation, so it hit me: aliens could be having such conversations, we just don't pay attention long enough, their timeframes could be completely dependent on the rotation of their planets in their own solar systems. It could also be the opposite, they are having bursts of data in just a few seconds. I was marveled at this, and also a bit overwhelmed, because it's not just a matter of searching in space, which is already big enough, but of time, it makes the task of finding intelligent life incredibly daunting.
Velcro Fly
Member
Have they said if eventually we are getting better photos of the non Charon moons?
Anton Sugar
Member
Thought some of you may think this is cool: Elite: Dangerous devs talk about New Horizons photos and how they did (or didn't) implement the updates into the game. For reference, E is a simulation of the entire Milky Way galaxy. In the past, they've updated the simulation to account for new discoveries (they added the new Kepler planets when they were discovered).
Keep in mind Elite: Dangerous takes place in the year 3301, where we've terraformed Mars, which is now the "capital" of our solar system.
is a simulation of the entire Milky Way galaxy. In the past, they've updated the simulation to account for new discoveries (they added the new Kepler planets when they were discovered).Keep in mind Elite: Dangerous takes place in the year 3301, where we've terraformed Mars, which is now the "capital" of our solar system.
New Horizons and Pluto in Elite: Dangerous
On Tuesday NASA's New Horizons probe flew by Pluto and snapped the clearest images ever shot of the dwarf planet, revealing towering mountains of ice and a mostly young surface free of impact craters. The pictures reveal the way Pluto's various ices have melted and reformed, likely due to tidal heating from gravitational interaction with Charon.
We'd like to join the chorus of voices congratulating NASA on the incredible achievement, and we'd like to answer a question we've heard a number of times already from the community.
What does New Horizons mean for Pluto and Charon in Elite: Dangerous?
Beautiful shot of Pluto and Charon in Elite: Dangerous by Aimicara on Imgur)
You'll notice Pluto and Charon look a little different in Elite: Dangerous, though we’re pleased by how closely our simulation has matched the ‘smooth’ heart-shaped area on Pluto. Our simulation assumed a more dramatic effect from the mild volcanism caused by tidal heating from interaction with Charon, which would uniformly refresh the surface over time. There’s still 1,300 years between now and 3301, which means around five more orbits and five more heating/cooling cycles between today and the era of Elite: Dangerous. It's possible the renewed surface could spread to cover the entire body by 3301!
Another major factor in the difference is the data available to our simulation "In Elite: Dangerous, we use real world data whenever it's available to make objects as real as we can make them," says Assistant Art Director Jon Bottone. "With a few exceptions, the surfaces you see are derived from the custom simulation based on things like the distance from the star and Newton's second law, the object's mass, temperature, composition, surface age, atmosphere, chemistry, tidal heating, radiative heating, impacts from other bodies during formation and so forth.
"For familiar objects like Earth, Mars and our moon, we can use real height map data to build a truly accurate model of the surface," he continues. "In the case of Earth and our terraformed Mars, we've used real height map data, simulated the levels of the oceans and added life to the surface in order to make the geography as accurate as we can make it. Those height maps are invaluable to making familiar planets look real, and if NASA is able to release that data for Pluto and Charon – or any other planetary body –we should be able to incorporate that in the future too."
Pluto, as seen by the New Horizons probe
So why don't we just paint a new surface texture based on NASA's new images?
"All our planets are built using a sophisticated simulation so that one day you can get close to them. Really close," Bottone says. "Right now every planet can only be observed from afar, but Elite: Dangerous is designed for the future, and by sticking to the simulation and constantly improving it to make it as real as possible, we can be sure the canyons and mountains you see from space will accurately be reflected when you skim close to the surface, or even land upon it."
In short: we're leaving Pluto and Charon to the simulation for now because we want to land on them someday, but we'll improve the simulation when we have the necessary data because flying along that four-mile deep canyon on Charon looks irresistible. Thanks to NASA's hard work, that day may be closer than ever.
LookAtMeGo
Member
Haha sounds cool. Hoping for ancient space ship remains.
In 1 hour and 20 minutes. Humanity will discover we are not alone.
probably water?
They found Matthew McConaughey floating in space.
My money's on indisputable evidence of currently active geology - geyser plumes or similar.
"ayyy alright alright alright lmao"
It would be the only planet (besides Earth, obviously) with confirmed active geology, wouldn't it?
Mengy
wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
Fine Ham Abounds
Member
If I based it entirely off of NASA TV filler programming, I'd think that 90% of an astronaut's training time is spent being photographed in a flight suit while trying to hold an uncomfortable position
mmmuuuuurrrph
The Elite
BOSS
This would get me very excited.
Kinda, although active geology in the form of volcanoes has been observed on Io, a moon of Jupiter; Triton, a moon of Neptune; and Enceladus, a moon of Saturn. Evidence for possible volcanic activity on Mars, Venus and Europa has been observed, but no direct eruption observations have been made.
Source: http://geology.com/articles/active-volcanoes-solar-system.shtml
That would be so, so very awesome. We've got ice... and we've got a source of energy too... and little by little, the variables of the Drake Equation keeps getting higher and higher :3
alright alright alright
I could buy that. Given Pluto/Charon is a binary system, I won't be surprised if the pull and tug of gravity keeps the inside of the planet warm and active.
Fenderputty
Banned
They found a stargate. MY body is ready.
Except Pluto and Charon are perfectly tidally locked to each other. Any tidal heating from their orbit should have long dissipated by now.
Should have, but we don't know for sure. Let's see.
Parallax Scroll
Banned
photo reveals that pluto has in fact cleared the neighborhood
Mengy
wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
But there are other moons in the Pluto system exerting tidal forces too.
Parallax Scroll
Banned
Seems like their influence would be pretty small but idk
Fenderputty
Banned
I doubt it's tidal heating as well. The moons over Jupiter and Saturn that exhibit this kind of heating are being pulled by the largest objects in the solar system that aren't the sun.
Who knows though ... we find out soon I guess.
Who knows though ... we find out soon I guess.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OX9I1KyNa8M
Live link.
Edit- You have made a powerful enemy today, Vyrance.
Live link.
Edit- You have made a powerful enemy today, Vyrance.
Fenderputty
Banned
My stream is good!
Fenderputty
Banned
My stream is like HD quality and audio on point ...
I'm in cali for reference.
EDIt ... on NASA stream.
I'm in cali for reference.
EDIt ... on NASA stream.
Fenderputty
Banned
Solar system saved best for last ....
dear god hype levels rising
dear god hype levels rising
KeyboardThug
Member
They keep saying Planet...
Fine Ham Abounds
Member
DOCTOR Brian Fucking May
Mister_Bubbles
Member
Atmospheric data analysis, upstream Nitrogen ions, blah blah blah show us the aliens already
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