New Horizons: First close up pictures of Pluto

[Dragon Master Mike]

I wasn't sure if I should put this in the discussion section or not since it is a current event, but I wouldn't consider this a serious/more mature discussion like what generally goes in there.

I've been super excited about this for the past few days. I figured I'd make a thread about it, see if there were any other astronomy geeks here to discuss it with (Or even just anyone who finds it interesting)

NASA's New Horizons probe, launched 2006, finally reached it's destination. It made it's closest approach to the dwarf planet Pluto on the 14th, and pictures and information have been coming back since it completed it's 22 hour data collection period, in which the spacecraft did not transmit any information back to earth in order to maximize the amount of time it could spend collecting data.

This is the last image sent before beginning that data collection:

Spoiler:

Close ups reveal that the planet contains mountain ranges that scientists have compared to the Rocky Mountains. Scientists were surprised to see that the planet contained few craters, showing it to be a young surface. It was believed previously that the surface of the planet would have been covered in craters from billions of years of impacts, but now scientists estimate the surface of the planet to be no older than 100 million years old (not a long time in astronomical terms), and may even be one of the youngest in the solar system.

Spoiler:

Plenty more information is sure to be released over the next few weeks and even months. According to a NY Times article, so much data was collected, it will take 16 months before all of it is downloaded.

You can read more information on the topic here, as well as see more pictures that have come in from the icy planet and it's moons.


Thoughts? Personally, I am incredibly excited over this. I've been following everything that's happened for quite a few months now, and I'm hoping there'll be some other people who see this and were either also following the story or will find it interesting to hear about this. All information taken from the NASA site linked above and the New York Times.

[HKim]

I still say that Pluto is a planet.

[Neo Emolga]

I still say that Pluto is a planet.

I'd easily say more than half the Internet agrees with you on that one.

Still, this whole thing is pretty cool if you think about it. Makes me wonder what kinds of things we'll be exploring and getting pictures of in the next 20 or so years.

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

I think this is pretty cool. I still find it hard to imagine other planets out there. It's pretty amazing how far we can transmit images and such... all the way across the galaxy!