[meteorite-list] Hubble Catches Views of a Jet Rotating with Comet 252P/LINEAR
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2016/14 Hubble Catches Views of a Jet Rotating with Comet 252P/LINEAR News Release Number: STScI-2016-14 May 12, 2016 [Images] For thousands of years, humans have recorded sightings of mysterious comets sweeping across the nighttime skies. These celestial wanderers, "snowballs" of dust and ice, are swift-moving visitors from the cold depths of space. Some of them periodically visit the inner solar system during their journeys around the sun. Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured images of Comet 252P/LINEAR just after it swept by Earth on March 21. The visit was one of the closest encounters between a comet and our planet. The comet traveled within 3.3 million miles of Earth, or about 14 times the distance between our planet and the moon. The images reveal a narrow, well-defined jet of dust ejected by the comet's icy, fragile nucleus. These observations also represent the closest celestial object Hubble has observed, other than the moon. The comet will return to the inner solar system again in 2021. __ Visit our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/meteoritecentral and the Archives at http://www.meteorite-list-archives.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com https://pairlist3.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Hubble Discovers Moon Orbiting the Dwarf Planet Makemake
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/hubble-discovers-moon-orbiting-the-dwarf-planet-makemake Hubble Discovers Moon Orbiting the Dwarf Planet Makemake April 26, 2016 Peering to the outskirts of our solar system, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has spotted a small, dark moon orbiting Makemake, the second brightest icy dwarf planet - after Pluto - in the Kuiper Belt. The moon - provisionally designated S/2015 (136472) 1 and nicknamed MK 2 - is more than 1,300 times fainter than Makemake. MK 2 was seen approximately 13,000 miles from the dwarf planet, and its diameter is estimated to be 100 miles across. Makemake is 870 miles wide. The dwarf planet, discovered in 2005, is named for a creation deity of the Rapa Nui people of Easter Island. The Kuiper Belt is a vast reservoir of leftover frozen material from the construction of our solar system 4.5 billion years ago and home to several dwarf planets. Some of these worlds have known satellites, but this is the first discovery of a companion object to Makemake. Makemake is one of five dwarf planets recognized by the International Astronomical Union. The observations were made in April 2015 with Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3. Hubble's unique ability to see faint objects near bright ones, together with its sharp resolution, allowed astronomers to pluck out the moon from Makemake's glare. The discovery was announced today in a Minor Planet Electronic Circular. The observing team used the same Hubble technique to observe the moon as they did for finding the small satellites of Pluto in 2005, 2011, and 2012. Several previous searches around Makemake had turned up empty. "Our preliminary estimates show that the moon's orbit seems to be edge-on, and that means that often when you look at the system you are going to miss the moon because it gets lost in the bright glare of Makemake," said Alex Parker of Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colorado, who led the image analysis for the observations. A moon's discovery can provide valuable information on the dwarf-planet system. By measuring the moon's orbit, astronomers can calculate a mass for the system and gain insight into its evolution. Uncovering the moon also reinforces the idea that most dwarf planets have satellites. "Makemake is in the class of rare Pluto-like objects, so finding a companion is important," Parker said. "The discovery of this moon has given us an opportunity to study Makemake in far greater detail than we ever would have been able to without the companion." Finding this moon only increases the parallels between Pluto and Makemake. Both objects are already known to be covered in frozen methane. As was done with Pluto, further study of the satellite will easily reveal the density of Makemake, a key result that will indicate if the bulk compositions of Pluto and Makemake are also similar. "This new discovery opens a new chapter in comparative planetology in the outer solar system," said team leader Marc Buie of the Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colorado. The researchers will need more Hubble observations to make accurate measurements to determine if the moon's orbit is elliptical or circular. Preliminary estimates indicate that if the moon is in a circular orbit, it completes a circuit around Makemake in 12 days or longer. Determining the shape of the moon's orbit will help settle the question of its origin. A tight circular orbit means that MK 2 is probably the product of a collision between Makemake and another Kuiper Belt Object. If the moon is in a wide, elongated orbit, it is more likely to be a captured object from the Kuiper Belt. Either event would have likely occurred several billion years ago, when the solar system was young. The discovery may have solved one mystery about Makemake. Previous infrared studies of the dwarf planet revealed that while Makemake's surface is almost entirely bright and very cold, some areas appear warmer than other areas. Astronomers had suggested that this discrepancy may be due to the sun warming discrete dark patches on Makemake's surface. However, unless Makemake is in a special orientation, these dark patches should make the dwarf planet's brightness vary substantially as it rotates. But this amount of variability has never been observed. These previous infrared data did not have sufficient resolution to separate Makemake from MK 2. The team's reanalysis, based on the new Hubble observations, suggests that much of the warmer surface detected previously in infrared light may, in reality, simply have been the dark surface of the companion MK 2. There are several possibilities that could explain why the moon would have a charcoal-black surface, even though it is orbiting a dwarf planet that is as bright as fresh snow. One idea is that, unlike larger objects such as Makemake, MK 2 is small enough that it cannot gravitationally hold onto a bright, icy crust, which sublimates,
[meteorite-list] Hubble to Proceed with Full Search for New Horizons Targets
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2014/35/full/ Hubble to Proceed with Full Search for New Horizons Targets News Release Number:* STScI-2014-35 July 1, 2014 NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has been given the go-ahead to conduct an intensive search for a suitable outer solar system object that the New Horizons (NH) spacecraft could visit after the probe streaks though the Pluto system in July 2015. Hubble observations will begin in July and are expected to conclude in August. Assuming a suitable target is found at the completion of the survey and some follow-up observations are made later in the year, if NASA approves, the New Horizon's trajectory can be modified in the fall of 2015 to rendezvous with the target Kuiper Belt object (KBO) three to four years later. The Kuiper Belt is a debris field of icy bodies left over from the solar system's formation 4.6 billion years ago. Though the belt was hypothesized in a 1951 science paper by astronomer Gerard Kuiper, no Kuiper Belt objects were found until the early 1990s. So far over 1,000 KBOs have been cataloged, though it's hypothesized many more KBOs exist. The approval for additional observing time for the needle-in-a-haystack search is based on the analysis of a set of pilot observations obtained with the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) director's discretionary time on Hubble. After a swift and intensive data analysis of approximately 200 Hubble images, the NH team met the pilot program criterion of finding a minimum of two KBOs. Once again the Hubble Space Telescope has demonstrated the ability to explore the universe in new and unexpected ways, said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Hubble science is at its best when it works in concert with other NASA missions and ground-based observatories. It will be many weeks before the team can establish whether either of these pilot-program KBOs is a suitable target for New Horizons to visit, but their discovery provides sufficient evidence that a wider search to be executed with Hubble will find an optimum object. I am delighted that our initial investment of Hubble time paid off. We are looking forward see if the team can find a suitable KBO that New Horizons might be able to visit after its fly-by of Pluto, said STScI director Matt Mountain. In early June, Hubble's Time Allocation Committee awarded time for a full search with the requirement that its implementation be contingent on the success of the pilot survey. From June 16 to June 26, the New Horizons team used Hubble to perform a preliminary search to see how abundant small Kuiper Belt objects are in the vast outer rim of our solar system. Hubble looked at 20 areas of the sky to identify any small KBOs. The team analyzed each of pilot program images with software tools that sped up the KBO identification process. Hubble's sharp vision and unique sensitivity allowed very faint KBOs to be identified as they drifted against the far more distant background stars, objects that had previously eluded searches by some of the world's largest ground-based telescopes. CONTACT Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md. 410-338-4514 vill...@stsci.edu mailto:vill...@stsci.edu J.D. Harrington NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. 202-358-5241 j.d.harring...@nasa.gov mailto:j.d.harring...@nasa.gov __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteorite-list-archives.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://three.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Hubble Witnesses an Asteroid Mysteriously Disintegrating (2013 R3)
http://www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic1405/ Hubble witnesses an asteroid mysteriously disintegrating 6 March 2014 The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has photographed the never-before-seen break-up of an asteroid, which has fragmented into as many as ten smaller pieces. Although fragile comet nuclei have been seen to fall apart as they approach the Sun, nothing like the breakup of this asteroid, P/2013 R3, has ever been observed before in the asteroid belt. This is a rock. Seeing it fall apart before our eyes is pretty amazing, said David Jewitt of UCLA, USA, who led the astronomical forensics investigation. The crumbling asteroid, designated P/2013 R3, was first noticed as an unusual, fuzzy-looking object on 15 September 2013 by the Catalina and Pan-STARRS sky surveys. Follow-up observations on 1 October with the Keck Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, revealed three co-moving bodies embedded in a dusty envelope that is nearly the diameter of Earth. Keck showed us that this thing was worth looking at with Hubble, Jewitt said. With its superior resolution, the space-based Hubble observations soon showed that there were really ten distinct objects, each with comet-like dust tails. The four largest rocky fragments are up to 200 metres in radius, about twice the length of a football pitch. The Hubble data showed that the fragments are drifting away from each other at a leisurely 1.5 kilometres per hour - slower than the speed of a strolling human. The asteroid began coming apart early last year, but the latest images show that pieces continue to emerge. This is a really bizarre thing to observe - we've never seen anything like it before, says co-author Jessica Agarwal of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Germany. The break-up could have many different causes, but the Hubble observations are detailed enough that we can actually pinpoint the process responsible. The ongoing discovery of more fragments makes it unlikely that the asteroid is disintegrating due to a collision with another asteroid, which would be instantaneous and violent in comparison to what has been observed. Some of the debris from such a high-velocity smash-up would also be expected to travel much faster than has been observed. It is also unlikely that the asteroid is breaking apart due to the pressure of interior ices warming and vaporising. The object is too cold for ices to significantly sublimate, and it has presumably maintained its nearly 480-million-kilometre distance from the Sun for much of the age of the Solar System. This leaves a scenario in which the asteroid is disintegrating due to a subtle effect of sunlight that causes the rotation rate to slowly increase over time. Eventually, its component pieces gently pull apart due to centrifugal force. The possibility of disruption by this phenomenon - known as the YORP effect [1] - has been discussed by scientists for several years but, so far, never reliably observed. For break-up to occur, P/2013 R3 must have a weak, fractured interior, probably the result of numerous ancient and non-destructive collisions with other asteroids. Most small asteroids are thought to have been severely damaged in this way, giving them a rubble pile internal structure. P/2013 R3 itself is probably the product of collisional shattering of a bigger body some time in the last billion years. This is the latest in a line of weird asteroid discoveries, including the active asteroid P/2013 P5, which we found to be spouting six tails, says Agarwal. This indicates that the Sun may play a large role in disintegrating these small Solar System bodies, by putting pressure on them via sunlight. P/2013 R3's remnant debris, weighing in at 200 000 tonnes, will provide a rich source of meteoroids in the future. Most will eventually plunge into the Sun, but a small fraction of the debris may one day blaze across our sky as meteors. Notes [1] In full, this effect is known as the Yarkovsky-O'Keefe-Radzievskii-Paddack effect. This effect occurs when light from the Sun is absorbed by a body and then re-emitted as heat. When the shape of the emitting body is not perfectly regular, more heat is emitted from some regions than others. This creates a small imbalance that causes a small but constant torque on the body, which changes its spin rate. Notes for editors The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA. [1] The results will be published in a paper entitled Disintegrating Asteroid P/2013 R3, to appear in the Astrophysical Journal Letters on 6 March 2014. [2] The international team of astronomers in this study consists of D. Jewitt (UCLA, USA), J. Agarwal (MPS, Germany), J. Li (UCLA, USA), H. Weaver (Johns Hopkins University, USA), M. Mutchler (STScI, USA), and S. Larson (University of Arizona, USA). Image credit: NASA, ESA, and D. Jewitt (UCLA) Links Science paper Contacts Jessica
[meteorite-list] Hubble Astronomers Observe Bizarre Six-Tailed Asteroid (2013 P5)
http://spacetelescope.org/news/heic1320/ When is a comet not a comet? Hubble astronomers observe bizarre six-tailed asteroid 7 November 2013 [Images] Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have observed a unique and baffling object in the asteroid belt that looks like a rotating lawn sprinkler or badminton shuttlecock. While this object is on an asteroid-like orbit, it looks like a comet, and is sending out tails of dust into space. Normal asteroids appear as tiny points of light. But this asteroid, designated P/2013 P5, has six comet-like tails of dust radiating from it like the spokes on a wheel. It was first spotted in August of this year as an unusually fuzzy-looking object by astronomers using the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope in Hawaii [1]. Because nothing like this has ever been seen before, astronomers are scratching their heads to find an adequate explanation for its mysterious appearance. The multiple tails were discovered in Hubble images taken on 10 September 2013. When Hubble returned to the asteroid on 23 September, its appearance had totally changed. It looked as if the entire structure had swung around. We were literally dumbfounded when we saw it, said lead investigator David Jewitt of the University of California at Los Angeles, USA. Even more amazingly, its tail structures change dramatically in just 13 days as it belches out dust. That also caught us by surprise. It's hard to believe we're looking at an asteroid. One explanation for the odd appearance is that the asteroid's rotation rate increased to the point where its surface started flying apart, ejecting dust in episodic eruptions that started last spring. The team rules out an asteroid impact because a lot of dust would have been blasted into space all at once, whereas P5 has ejected dust intermittently over a period of at least five months [2]. Careful modelling by team member Jessica Agarwal of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Lindau, Germany, showed that the tails could have been formed by a series of impulsive dust-ejection events [3]. Radiation pressure from the Sun smears out the dust into streamers. Given our observations and modelling, we infer that P/2013 P5 might be losing dust as it rotates at high speed, says Agarwal. The Sun then drags this dust into the distinct tails we're seeing. The asteroid could possibly have been spun up to a high speed as pressure from the Sun's light exerted a torque on the body. If the asteroid's spin rate became fast enough, Jewitt said, the asteroid's weak gravity would no longer be able to hold it together. Dust might avalanche down towards the equator, and maybe shatter and fall off, eventually drifting into space to make a tail. So far, only a small fraction of the main mass, perhaps 100 to 1000 tonnes of dust, has been lost. The asteroid is thousands of times more massive, with a radius of up to 240 metres. Follow-up observations may show whether the dust leaves the asteroid in the equatorial plane, which would be quite strong evidence for a rotational breakup. Astronomers will also try to measure the asteroid's true spin rate. Jewitt's interpretation implies that rotational breakup may be a common phenomenon in the asteroid belt; it may even be the main way in which small asteroids die [4]. In astronomy, where you find one, you eventually find a whole bunch more, Jewitt said. This is just an amazing object to us, and almost certainly the first of many more to come. The paper from Jewitt's team appears online in the 7 November issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters. Notes [1] The comet was discovered by Micheli et al. on 27 August 2013. It was spotted in observations from 18 August 2013. The discovery was announced in a Minor Planet Electronic Circular. [2] Agarwal calculated that the first ejection event occurred on 15 April, and the last one on 4 September 2013. Other eruptions occurred on 18 July, 24 July, 8 August, and 26 August 2013. [3] A less likely option is that this emission is a result of water ice sublimating. Water ice can survive within the asteroid belt, although only at the outskirts or if buried deep enough within a large enough asteroid to be shielded. However, P5 is likely made of metamorphic rocks, making it incapable of holding ice in the same way that comets do. This, coupled with P5's orbit and its very small size, makes it very unlikely that its mass loss would be due to ice sublimation. [4] This is not the first time that Hubble has observed a strange asteroid. In 2010, Hubble spotted a strange X-shaped asteroid (heic1016). However, unlike P/2013 P5, this was thought to have been formed by a collision. Later that year astronomers observed asteroid (596) Scheila, an object with a tail that was surrounded by a C-shaped cloud of dust (opo1113a). Again, this asteroid was thought to be the result of a collision between Scheila and a much smaller body -
[meteorite-list] Hubble Discovers a Fifth Moon Orbiting Pluto
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2012/32/full/ Hubble Discovers a Fifth Moon Orbiting Pluto News Release Number:* STScI-2012-32 July 11, 2012 A team of astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is reporting the discovery of another moon orbiting the icy dwarf planet Pluto. The moon is estimated to be irregular in shape and 6 to 15 miles across. It is in a 58,000-mile-diameter circular orbit around Pluto that is assumed to be co-planar with the other satellites in the system. The moons form a series of neatly nested orbits, a bit like Russian dolls, said team lead Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif. The discovery increases the number of known moons orbiting Pluto to five. The Pluto team is intrigued that such a small planet can have such a complex collection of satellites. The new discovery provides additional clues for unraveling how the Pluto system formed and evolved. The favored theory is that all the moons are relics of a collision between Pluto and another large Kuiper belt object billions of years ago. The new detection will help scientists navigate NASA's New Horizons spacecraft through the Pluto system in 2015, when it makes an historic and long-awaited high-speed flyby of the distant world. The team is using Hubble's powerful vision to scour the Pluto system to uncover potential hazards to the New Horizons spacecraft. Moving past the dwarf planet at a speed of 30,000 miles per hour, New Horizons could be destroyed in a collision with even a BB-shot-size piece of orbital debris. The discovery of so many small moons indirectly tells us that there must be lots of small particles lurking unseen in the Pluto system, said Harold Weaver of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md. The inventory of the Pluto system we're taking now with Hubble will help the New Horizons team design a safer trajectory for the spacecraft, added Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo., the mission's principal investigator. Pluto's largest moon, Charon, was discovered in 1978 in observations made at the United States Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. Hubble observations in 2006 uncovered two additional small moons, Nix and Hydra. In 2011 another moon, P4, was found in Hubble data. Provisionally designated S/2012 (134340) 1, the latest moon was detected in nine separate sets of images taken by Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 on June 26, 27, and 29, 2012 and July 7 and 9, 2012. In the years following the New Horizons Pluto flyby, astronomers plan to use the infrared vision of Hubble's planned successor, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, for follow-up observations. The Webb telescope will be able to measure the surface chemistry of Pluto, its moons, and many other bodies that lie in the distant Kuiper Belt along with Pluto. The Pluto team members are M. Showalter (SETI Institute), H.A. Weaver (Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University), and S.A. Stern, A.J. Steffl, and M.W. Buie (Southwest Research Institute). CONTACT Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md. 410-338-4514 vill...@stsci.edu mailto:vill...@stsci.edu Karen Randall SETI Institute, Mountain View, Calif. 650-960-4537 krand...@seti.org mailto:krand...@seti.org __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moon around Pluto
Hi All, Pluto has a 4th moon! Here's a link to the CBAT: http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/cbet/cbet002769.txt Below is the NASA News release: July 20, 2011 Trent J. Perrotto Headquarters, Washington trent.j.perro...@nasa.gov 202-358-0321 Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore vill...@stsci.edu 410-338-4514 Karen Randall SETI Institute, Mountain View, Calif. krand...@seti.org 650-960-4537 RELEASE: 11-234 NASA'S HUBBLE DISCOVERS ANOTHER MOON AROUND PLUTO WASHINGTON -- Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope discovered a fourth moon orbiting the icy dwarf planet Pluto. The tiny, new satellite, temporarily designated P4, was uncovered in a Hubble survey searching for rings around the dwarf planet. The new moon is the smallest discovered around Pluto. It has an estimated diameter of 8 to 21 miles (13 to 34 km). By comparison, Charon, Pluto's largest moon, is 648 miles (1,043 km) across, and the other moons, Nix and Hydra, are in the range of 20 to 70 miles in diameter (32 to 113 km). I find it remarkable that Hubble's cameras enabled us to see such a tiny object so clearly from a distance of more than 3 billion miles (5 billion km), said Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif., who led this observing program with Hubble. The finding is a result of ongoing work to support NASA's New Horizons mission, scheduled to fly through the Pluto system in 2015. The mission is designed to provide new insights about worlds at the edge of our solar system. Hubble's mapping of Pluto's surface and discovery of its satellites have been invaluable to planning for New Horizons' close encounter. This is a fantastic discovery, said New Horizons' principal investigator Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo. Now that we know there's another moon in the Pluto system, we can plan close-up observations of it during our flyby. The new moon is located between the orbits of Nix and Hydra, which Hubble discovered in 2005. Charon was discovered in 1978 at the U.S. Naval Observatory and first resolved using Hubble in 1990 as a separate body from Pluto. The dwarf planet's entire moon system is believed to have formed by a collision between Pluto and another planet-sized body early in the history of the solar system. The smashup flung material that coalesced into the family of satellites observed around Pluto. Lunar rocks returned to Earth from the Apollo missions led to the theory that our moon was the result of a similar collision between Earth and a Mars-sized body 4.4 billion years ago. Scientists believe material blasted off Pluto's moons by micrometeoroid impacts may form rings around the dwarf planet, but the Hubble photographs have not detected any so far. This surprising observation is a powerful reminder of Hubble's ability as a general purpose astronomical observatory to make astounding, unintended discoveries, said Jon Morse, astrophysics division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington. P4 was first seen in a photo taken with Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 on June 28. It was confirmed in subsequent Hubble pictures taken on July 3 and July 18. The moon was not seen in earlier Hubble images because the exposure times were shorter. There is a chance it appeared as a very faint smudge in 2006 images, but was overlooked because it was obscured. Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy Inc. in Washington. For images and more information about Hubble, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/hubble and http://hubblesite.org/news/2011/23 -end- __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moon around Pluto
That's just weird. Pluto is sounding more like a cloud of fragments than anything else. I wonder how long its been like that. Cheers, Marc Fries On 7/20/11 11:35 AM, Matson, Robert D. wrote: Hi All, Pluto has a 4th moon! Here's a link to the CBAT: http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/cbet/cbet002769.txt Below is the NASA News release: July 20, 2011 Trent J. Perrotto Headquarters, Washington trent.j.perro...@nasa.gov 202-358-0321 Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore vill...@stsci.edu 410-338-4514 Karen Randall SETI Institute, Mountain View, Calif. krand...@seti.org 650-960-4537 RELEASE: 11-234 NASA'S HUBBLE DISCOVERS ANOTHER MOON AROUND PLUTO WASHINGTON -- Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope discovered a fourth moon orbiting the icy dwarf planet Pluto. The tiny, new satellite, temporarily designated P4, was uncovered in a Hubble survey searching for rings around the dwarf planet. The new moon is the smallest discovered around Pluto. It has an estimated diameter of 8 to 21 miles (13 to 34 km). By comparison, Charon, Pluto's largest moon, is 648 miles (1,043 km) across, and the other moons, Nix and Hydra, are in the range of 20 to 70 miles in diameter (32 to 113 km). I find it remarkable that Hubble's cameras enabled us to see such a tiny object so clearly from a distance of more than 3 billion miles (5 billion km), said Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif., who led this observing program with Hubble. The finding is a result of ongoing work to support NASA's New Horizons mission, scheduled to fly through the Pluto system in 2015. The mission is designed to provide new insights about worlds at the edge of our solar system. Hubble's mapping of Pluto's surface and discovery of its satellites have been invaluable to planning for New Horizons' close encounter. This is a fantastic discovery, said New Horizons' principal investigator Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo. Now that we know there's another moon in the Pluto system, we can plan close-up observations of it during our flyby. The new moon is located between the orbits of Nix and Hydra, which Hubble discovered in 2005. Charon was discovered in 1978 at the U.S. Naval Observatory and first resolved using Hubble in 1990 as a separate body from Pluto. The dwarf planet's entire moon system is believed to have formed by a collision between Pluto and another planet-sized body early in the history of the solar system. The smashup flung material that coalesced into the family of satellites observed around Pluto. Lunar rocks returned to Earth from the Apollo missions led to the theory that our moon was the result of a similar collision between Earth and a Mars-sized body 4.4 billion years ago. Scientists believe material blasted off Pluto's moons by micrometeoroid impacts may form rings around the dwarf planet, but the Hubble photographs have not detected any so far. This surprising observation is a powerful reminder of Hubble's ability as a general purpose astronomical observatory to make astounding, unintended discoveries, said Jon Morse, astrophysics division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington. P4 was first seen in a photo taken with Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 on June 28. It was confirmed in subsequent Hubble pictures taken on July 3 and July 18. The moon was not seen in earlier Hubble images because the exposure times were shorter. There is a chance it appeared as a very faint smudge in 2006 images, but was overlooked because it was obscured. Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy Inc. in Washington. For images and more information about Hubble, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/hubble and http://hubblesite.org/news/2011/23 -end- __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moon around Pluto
Fascinating news !!! Thank you for sharing this, Robert. It's hard to wait another four years until New Horizons reveals more secrets from the icy spheres around Pluto. But that's 'space' Best wishes Martin -Ursprüngliche Nachricht- Von: Matson, Robert D. robert.d.mat...@saic.com Gesendet: 20.07.2011 20:35:17 An: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Betreff: [meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moon around Pluto Hi All, Pluto has a 4th moon! Here's a link to the CBAT: http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/cbet/cbet002769.txt Below is the NASA News release: July 20, 2011 Trent J. Perrotto Headquarters, Washington trent.j.perro...@nasa.gov 202-358-0321 Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore vill...@stsci.edu 410-338-4514 Karen Randall SETI Institute, Mountain View, Calif. krand...@seti.org 650-960-4537 RELEASE: 11-234 NASA'S HUBBLE DISCOVERS ANOTHER MOON AROUND PLUTO WASHINGTON -- Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope discovered a fourth moon orbiting the icy dwarf planet Pluto. The tiny, new satellite, temporarily designated P4, was uncovered in a Hubble survey searching for rings around the dwarf planet. The new moon is the smallest discovered around Pluto. It has an estimated diameter of 8 to 21 miles (13 to 34 km). By comparison, Charon, Pluto's largest moon, is 648 miles (1,043 km) across, and the other moons, Nix and Hydra, are in the range of 20 to 70 miles in diameter (32 to 113 km). I find it remarkable that Hubble's cameras enabled us to see such a tiny object so clearly from a distance of more than 3 billion miles (5 billion km), said Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif., who led this observing program with Hubble. The finding is a result of ongoing work to support NASA's New Horizons mission, scheduled to fly through the Pluto system in 2015. The mission is designed to provide new insights about worlds at the edge of our solar system. Hubble's mapping of Pluto's surface and discovery of its satellites have been invaluable to planning for New Horizons' close encounter. This is a fantastic discovery, said New Horizons' principal investigator Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo. Now that we know there's another moon in the Pluto system, we can plan close-up observations of it during our flyby. The new moon is located between the orbits of Nix and Hydra, which Hubble discovered in 2005. Charon was discovered in 1978 at the U.S. Naval Observatory and first resolved using Hubble in 1990 as a separate body from Pluto. The dwarf planet's entire moon system is believed to have formed by a collision between Pluto and another planet-sized body early in the history of the solar system. The smashup flung material that coalesced into the family of satellites observed around Pluto. Lunar rocks returned to Earth from the Apollo missions led to the theory that our moon was the result of a similar collision between Earth and a Mars-sized body 4.4 billion years ago. Scientists believe material blasted off Pluto's moons by micrometeoroid impacts may form rings around the dwarf planet, but the Hubble photographs have not detected any so far. This surprising observation is a powerful reminder of Hubble's ability as a general purpose astronomical observatory to make astounding, unintended discoveries, said Jon Morse, astrophysics division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington. P4 was first seen in a photo taken with Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 on June 28. It was confirmed in subsequent Hubble pictures taken on July 3 and July 18. The moon was not seen in earlier Hubble images because the exposure times were shorter. There is a chance it appeared as a very faint smudge in 2006 images, but was overlooked because it was obscured. Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy Inc. in Washington. For images and more information about Hubble, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/hubble and http://hubblesite.org/news/2011/23 -end- __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moon around Pluto
How should S/2011 (134340) 1 be called? Any suggestions? How about KALI ? It's not Greek, but ... Martin -Ursprüngliche Nachricht- Von: karmaka karm...@email.de Gesendet: 20.07.2011 22:11:26 An: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Betreff: Re: [meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moon around Pluto Fascinating news !!! Thank you for sharing this, Robert. It's hard to wait another four years until New Horizons reveals more secrets from the icy spheres around Pluto. But that's 'space' Best wishes Martin -Ursprüngliche Nachricht- Von: Matson, Robert D. robert.d.mat...@saic.com Gesendet: 20.07.2011 20:35:17 An: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Betreff: [meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moon around Pluto Hi All, Pluto has a 4th moon! Here's a link to the CBAT: http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/cbet/cbet002769.txt Below is the NASA News release: July 20, 2011 Trent J. Perrotto Headquarters, Washington trent.j.perro...@nasa.gov 202-358-0321 Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore vill...@stsci.edu 410-338-4514 Karen Randall SETI Institute, Mountain View, Calif. krand...@seti.org 650-960-4537 RELEASE: 11-234 NASA'S HUBBLE DISCOVERS ANOTHER MOON AROUND PLUTO WASHINGTON -- Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope discovered a fourth moon orbiting the icy dwarf planet Pluto. The tiny, new satellite, temporarily designated P4, was uncovered in a Hubble survey searching for rings around the dwarf planet. The new moon is the smallest discovered around Pluto. It has an estimated diameter of 8 to 21 miles (13 to 34 km). By comparison, Charon, Pluto's largest moon, is 648 miles (1,043 km) across, and the other moons, Nix and Hydra, are in the range of 20 to 70 miles in diameter (32 to 113 km). I find it remarkable that Hubble's cameras enabled us to see such a tiny object so clearly from a distance of more than 3 billion miles (5 billion km), said Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif., who led this observing program with Hubble. The finding is a result of ongoing work to support NASA's New Horizons mission, scheduled to fly through the Pluto system in 2015. The mission is designed to provide new insights about worlds at the edge of our solar system. Hubble's mapping of Pluto's surface and discovery of its satellites have been invaluable to planning for New Horizons' close encounter. This is a fantastic discovery, said New Horizons' principal investigator Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo. Now that we know there's another moon in the Pluto system, we can plan close-up observations of it during our flyby. The new moon is located between the orbits of Nix and Hydra, which Hubble discovered in 2005. Charon was discovered in 1978 at the U.S. Naval Observatory and first resolved using Hubble in 1990 as a separate body from Pluto. The dwarf planet's entire moon system is believed to have formed by a collision between Pluto and another planet-sized body early in the history of the solar system. The smashup flung material that coalesced into the family of satellites observed around Pluto. Lunar rocks returned to Earth from the Apollo missions led to the theory that our moon was the result of a similar collision between Earth and a Mars-sized body 4.4 billion years ago. Scientists believe material blasted off Pluto's moons by micrometeoroid impacts may form rings around the dwarf planet, but the Hubble photographs have not detected any so far. This surprising observation is a powerful reminder of Hubble's ability as a general purpose astronomical observatory to make astounding, unintended discoveries, said Jon Morse, astrophysics division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington. P4 was first seen in a photo taken with Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 on June 28. It was confirmed in subsequent Hubble pictures taken on July 3 and July 18. The moon was not seen in earlier Hubble images because the exposure times were shorter. There is a chance it appeared as a very faint smudge in 2006 images, but was overlooked because it was obscured. Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy Inc. in Washington. For images and more information about Hubble, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/hubble and http://hubblesite.org/news/2011/23 -end- __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Visit the Archives at http
Re: [meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moon around Pluto
If it has to be Greek, how about ACHLYS the personification of Eternal Night, a daughter of NYX ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achlys Best Martin -Ursprüngliche Nachricht- Von: karmaka karm...@email.de Gesendet: 20.07.2011 22:29:29 An: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Betreff: Re: [meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moon around Pluto How should S/2011 (134340) 1 be called? Any suggestions? How about KALI ? It's not Greek, but ... Martin -Ursprüngliche Nachricht- Von: karmaka karm...@email.de Gesendet: 20.07.2011 22:11:26 An: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Betreff: Re: [meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moon around Pluto Fascinating news !!! Thank you for sharing this, Robert. It's hard to wait another four years until New Horizons reveals more secrets from the icy spheres around Pluto. But that's 'space' Best wishes Martin -Ursprüngliche Nachricht- Von: Matson, Robert D. robert.d.mat...@saic.com Gesendet: 20.07.2011 20:35:17 An: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Betreff: [meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moon around Pluto Hi All, Pluto has a 4th moon! Here's a link to the CBAT: http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/cbet/cbet002769.txt Below is the NASA News release: July 20, 2011 Trent J. Perrotto Headquarters, Washington trent.j.perro...@nasa.gov 202-358-0321 Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore vill...@stsci.edu 410-338-4514 Karen Randall SETI Institute, Mountain View, Calif. krand...@seti.org 650-960-4537 RELEASE: 11-234 NASA'S HUBBLE DISCOVERS ANOTHER MOON AROUND PLUTO WASHINGTON -- Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope discovered a fourth moon orbiting the icy dwarf planet Pluto. The tiny, new satellite, temporarily designated P4, was uncovered in a Hubble survey searching for rings around the dwarf planet. The new moon is the smallest discovered around Pluto. It has an estimated diameter of 8 to 21 miles (13 to 34 km). By comparison, Charon, Pluto's largest moon, is 648 miles (1,043 km) across, and the other moons, Nix and Hydra, are in the range of 20 to 70 miles in diameter (32 to 113 km). I find it remarkable that Hubble's cameras enabled us to see such a tiny object so clearly from a distance of more than 3 billion miles (5 billion km), said Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif., who led this observing program with Hubble. The finding is a result of ongoing work to support NASA's New Horizons mission, scheduled to fly through the Pluto system in 2015. The mission is designed to provide new insights about worlds at the edge of our solar system. Hubble's mapping of Pluto's surface and discovery of its satellites have been invaluable to planning for New Horizons' close encounter. This is a fantastic discovery, said New Horizons' principal investigator Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo. Now that we know there's another moon in the Pluto system, we can plan close-up observations of it during our flyby. The new moon is located between the orbits of Nix and Hydra, which Hubble discovered in 2005. Charon was discovered in 1978 at the U.S. Naval Observatory and first resolved using Hubble in 1990 as a separate body from Pluto. The dwarf planet's entire moon system is believed to have formed by a collision between Pluto and another planet-sized body early in the history of the solar system. The smashup flung material that coalesced into the family of satellites observed around Pluto. Lunar rocks returned to Earth from the Apollo missions led to the theory that our moon was the result of a similar collision between Earth and a Mars-sized body 4.4 billion years ago. Scientists believe material blasted off Pluto's moons by micrometeoroid impacts may form rings around the dwarf planet, but the Hubble photographs have not detected any so far. This surprising observation is a powerful reminder of Hubble's ability as a general purpose astronomical observatory to make astounding, unintended discoveries, said Jon Morse, astrophysics division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington. P4 was first seen in a photo taken with Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 on June 28. It was confirmed in subsequent Hubble pictures taken on July 3 and July 18. The moon was not seen in earlier Hubble images because the exposure times were shorter. There is a chance it appeared as a very faint smudge in 2006 images, but was overlooked because it was obscured. Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy Inc. in Washington. For images and more information about Hubble, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/hubble and http
Re: [meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moon around Pluto
Actually, one of the discoverers (Dr. Doug Hamilton, UMaryland) has a preference for Cerberus... Fits in with the mythology... and as the discoverers, Showalter and Hamilton get to name it... Clear Skies! Elizabeth On 7/20/2011 4:38 PM, karmaka wrote: If it has to be Greek, how about ACHLYS the personification of Eternal Night, a daughter of NYX ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achlys Best Martin -Ursprüngliche Nachricht- Von: karmakakarm...@email.de Gesendet: 20.07.2011 22:29:29 An: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Betreff: Re: [meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moon around Pluto How should S/2011 (134340) 1 be called? Any suggestions? How about KALI ? It's not Greek, but ... Martin -Ursprüngliche Nachricht- Von: karmakakarm...@email.de Gesendet: 20.07.2011 22:11:26 An: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Betreff: Re: [meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moon around Pluto Fascinating news !!! Thank you for sharing this, Robert. It's hard to wait another four years until New Horizons reveals more secrets from the icy spheres around Pluto. But that's 'space' Best wishes Martin -Ursprüngliche Nachricht- Von: Matson, Robert D.robert.d.mat...@saic.com Gesendet: 20.07.2011 20:35:17 An: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Betreff: [meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moon around Pluto Hi All, Pluto has a 4th moon! Here's a link to the CBAT: http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/cbet/cbet002769.txt Below is the NASA News release: July 20, 2011 Trent J. Perrotto Headquarters, Washington trent.j.perro...@nasa.gov 202-358-0321 Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore vill...@stsci.edu 410-338-4514 Karen Randall SETI Institute, Mountain View, Calif. krand...@seti.org 650-960-4537 RELEASE: 11-234 NASA'S HUBBLE DISCOVERS ANOTHER MOON AROUND PLUTO WASHINGTON -- Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope discovered a fourth moon orbiting the icy dwarf planet Pluto. The tiny, new satellite, temporarily designated P4, was uncovered in a Hubble survey searching for rings around the dwarf planet. The new moon is the smallest discovered around Pluto. It has an estimated diameter of 8 to 21 miles (13 to 34 km). By comparison, Charon, Pluto's largest moon, is 648 miles (1,043 km) across, and the other moons, Nix and Hydra, are in the range of 20 to 70 miles in diameter (32 to 113 km). I find it remarkable that Hubble's cameras enabled us to see such a tiny object so clearly from a distance of more than 3 billion miles (5 billion km), said Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif., who led this observing program with Hubble. The finding is a result of ongoing work to support NASA's New Horizons mission, scheduled to fly through the Pluto system in 2015. The mission is designed to provide new insights about worlds at the edge of our solar system. Hubble's mapping of Pluto's surface and discovery of its satellites have been invaluable to planning for New Horizons' close encounter. This is a fantastic discovery, said New Horizons' principal investigator Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo. Now that we know there's another moon in the Pluto system, we can plan close-up observations of it during our flyby. The new moon is located between the orbits of Nix and Hydra, which Hubble discovered in 2005. Charon was discovered in 1978 at the U.S. Naval Observatory and first resolved using Hubble in 1990 as a separate body from Pluto. The dwarf planet's entire moon system is believed to have formed by a collision between Pluto and another planet-sized body early in the history of the solar system. The smashup flung material that coalesced into the family of satellites observed around Pluto. Lunar rocks returned to Earth from the Apollo missions led to the theory that our moon was the result of a similar collision between Earth and a Mars-sized body 4.4 billion years ago. Scientists believe material blasted off Pluto's moons by micrometeoroid impacts may form rings around the dwarf planet, but the Hubble photographs have not detected any so far. This surprising observation is a powerful reminder of Hubble's ability as a general purpose astronomical observatory to make astounding, unintended discoveries, said Jon Morse, astrophysics division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington. P4 was first seen in a photo taken with Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 on June 28. It was confirmed in subsequent Hubble pictures taken on July 3 and July 18. The moon was not seen in earlier Hubble images because the exposure times were shorter. There is a chance it appeared as a very faint smudge in 2006 images, but was overlooked because it was obscured. Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI
Re: [meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moon around Pluto
Hi Elizabeth: The big problem with cerberus is that there is already 1865 Cerberus, an Apollo asteroid. IAU Nomenclatur Committee tries to avoid duplication like that though there are several existing examples. Larry Actually, one of the discoverers (Dr. Doug Hamilton, UMaryland) has a preference for Cerberus... Fits in with the mythology... and as the discoverers, Showalter and Hamilton get to name it... Clear Skies! Elizabeth On 7/20/2011 4:38 PM, karmaka wrote: If it has to be Greek, how about ACHLYS the personification of Eternal Night, a daughter of NYX ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achlys Best Martin -Ursprüngliche Nachricht- Von: karmakakarm...@email.de Gesendet: 20.07.2011 22:29:29 An: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Betreff: Re: [meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moon around Pluto How should S/2011 (134340) 1 be called? Any suggestions? How about KALI ? It's not Greek, but ... Martin -Ursprüngliche Nachricht- Von: karmakakarm...@email.de Gesendet: 20.07.2011 22:11:26 An: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Betreff: Re: [meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moon around Pluto Fascinating news !!! Thank you for sharing this, Robert. It's hard to wait another four years until New Horizons reveals more secrets from the icy spheres around Pluto. But that's 'space' Best wishes Martin -Ursprüngliche Nachricht- Von: Matson, Robert D.robert.d.mat...@saic.com Gesendet: 20.07.2011 20:35:17 An: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Betreff: [meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moon around Pluto Hi All, Pluto has a 4th moon! Here's a link to the CBAT: http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/cbet/cbet002769.txt Below is the NASA News release: July 20, 2011 Trent J. Perrotto Headquarters, Washington trent.j.perro...@nasa.gov 202-358-0321 Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore vill...@stsci.edu 410-338-4514 Karen Randall SETI Institute, Mountain View, Calif. krand...@seti.org 650-960-4537 RELEASE: 11-234 NASA'S HUBBLE DISCOVERS ANOTHER MOON AROUND PLUTO WASHINGTON -- Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope discovered a fourth moon orbiting the icy dwarf planet Pluto. The tiny, new satellite, temporarily designated P4, was uncovered in a Hubble survey searching for rings around the dwarf planet. The new moon is the smallest discovered around Pluto. It has an estimated diameter of 8 to 21 miles (13 to 34 km). By comparison, Charon, Pluto's largest moon, is 648 miles (1,043 km) across, and the other moons, Nix and Hydra, are in the range of 20 to 70 miles in diameter (32 to 113 km). I find it remarkable that Hubble's cameras enabled us to see such a tiny object so clearly from a distance of more than 3 billion miles (5 billion km), said Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif., who led this observing program with Hubble. The finding is a result of ongoing work to support NASA's New Horizons mission, scheduled to fly through the Pluto system in 2015. The mission is designed to provide new insights about worlds at the edge of our solar system. Hubble's mapping of Pluto's surface and discovery of its satellites have been invaluable to planning for New Horizons' close encounter. This is a fantastic discovery, said New Horizons' principal investigator Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo. Now that we know there's another moon in the Pluto system, we can plan close-up observations of it during our flyby. The new moon is located between the orbits of Nix and Hydra, which Hubble discovered in 2005. Charon was discovered in 1978 at the U.S. Naval Observatory and first resolved using Hubble in 1990 as a separate body from Pluto. The dwarf planet's entire moon system is believed to have formed by a collision between Pluto and another planet-sized body early in the history of the solar system. The smashup flung material that coalesced into the family of satellites observed around Pluto. Lunar rocks returned to Earth from the Apollo missions led to the theory that our moon was the result of a similar collision between Earth and a Mars-sized body 4.4 billion years ago. Scientists believe material blasted off Pluto's moons by micrometeoroid impacts may form rings around the dwarf planet, but the Hubble photographs have not detected any so far. This surprising observation is a powerful reminder of Hubble's ability as a general purpose astronomical observatory to make astounding, unintended discoveries, said Jon Morse, astrophysics division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington. P4 was first seen in a photo taken with Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 on June 28. It was confirmed in subsequent Hubble pictures taken on July 3 and July 18. The moon was not seen in earlier Hubble images because the exposure times were shorter
Re: [meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moon around Pluto
I really don't care... I was just passing along what one of the discoverers had expressed as his preference... Clear Skies! Elizabeth On 7/20/2011 4:56 PM, lebof...@lpl.arizona.edu wrote: Hi Elizabeth: The big problem with cerberus is that there is already 1865 Cerberus, an Apollo asteroid. IAU Nomenclatur Committee tries to avoid duplication like that though there are several existing examples. Larry Actually, one of the discoverers (Dr. Doug Hamilton, UMaryland) has a preference for Cerberus... Fits in with the mythology... and as the discoverers, Showalter and Hamilton get to name it... Clear Skies! Elizabeth __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moon around Pluto
ACHLYS has not been used for any asteroid or other object as far as I know. http://www.theoi.com/Daimon/Akhlys.html Martin -Ursprüngliche Nachricht- Von: lebof...@lpl.arizona.edu Gesendet: 20.07.2011 22:56:04 An: warne...@astro.umd.edu Betreff: Re: [meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moon around Pluto Hi Elizabeth: The big problem with cerberus is that there is already 1865 Cerberus, an Apollo asteroid. IAU Nomenclatur Committee tries to avoid duplication like that though there are several existing examples. Larry Actually, one of the discoverers (Dr. Doug Hamilton, UMaryland) has a preference for Cerberus... Fits in with the mythology... and as the discoverers, Showalter and Hamilton get to name it... Clear Skies! Elizabeth On 7/20/2011 4:38 PM, karmaka wrote: If it has to be Greek, how about ACHLYS the personification of Eternal Night, a daughter of NYX ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achlys Best Martin -Ursprüngliche Nachricht- Von: karmakakarm...@email.de Gesendet: 20.07.2011 22:29:29 An: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Betreff: Re: [meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moon around Pluto How should S/2011 (134340) 1 be called? Any suggestions? How about KALI ? It's not Greek, but ... Martin -Ursprüngliche Nachricht- Von: karmakakarm...@email.de Gesendet: 20.07.2011 22:11:26 An: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Betreff: Re: [meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moon around Pluto Fascinating news !!! Thank you for sharing this, Robert. It's hard to wait another four years until New Horizons reveals more secrets from the icy spheres around Pluto. But that's 'space' Best wishes Martin -Ursprüngliche Nachricht- Von: Matson, Robert D.robert.d.mat...@saic.com Gesendet: 20.07.2011 20:35:17 An: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Betreff: [meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moon around Pluto Hi All, Pluto has a 4th moon! Here's a link to the CBAT: http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/cbet/cbet002769.txt Below is the NASA News release: July 20, 2011 Trent J. Perrotto Headquarters, Washington trent.j.perro...@nasa.gov 202-358-0321 Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore vill...@stsci.edu 410-338-4514 Karen Randall SETI Institute, Mountain View, Calif. krand...@seti.org 650-960-4537 RELEASE: 11-234 NASA'S HUBBLE DISCOVERS ANOTHER MOON AROUND PLUTO WASHINGTON -- Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope discovered a fourth moon orbiting the icy dwarf planet Pluto. The tiny, new satellite, temporarily designated P4, was uncovered in a Hubble survey searching for rings around the dwarf planet. The new moon is the smallest discovered around Pluto. It has an estimated diameter of 8 to 21 miles (13 to 34 km). By comparison, Charon, Pluto's largest moon, is 648 miles (1,043 km) across, and the other moons, Nix and Hydra, are in the range of 20 to 70 miles in diameter (32 to 113 km). I find it remarkable that Hubble's cameras enabled us to see such a tiny object so clearly from a distance of more than 3 billion miles (5 billion km), said Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif., who led this observing program with Hubble. The finding is a result of ongoing work to support NASA's New Horizons mission, scheduled to fly through the Pluto system in 2015. The mission is designed to provide new insights about worlds at the edge of our solar system. Hubble's mapping of Pluto's surface and discovery of its satellites have been invaluable to planning for New Horizons' close encounter. This is a fantastic discovery, said New Horizons' principal investigator Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo. Now that we know there's another moon in the Pluto system, we can plan close-up observations of it during our flyby. The new moon is located between the orbits of Nix and Hydra, which Hubble discovered in 2005. Charon was discovered in 1978 at the U.S. Naval Observatory and first resolved using Hubble in 1990 as a separate body from Pluto. The dwarf planet's entire moon system is believed to have formed by a collision between Pluto and another planet-sized body early in the history of the solar system. The smashup flung material that coalesced into the family of satellites observed around Pluto. Lunar rocks returned to Earth from the Apollo missions led to the theory that our moon was the result of a similar collision between Earth and a Mars-sized body 4.4 billion years ago. Scientists believe material blasted off Pluto's moons by micrometeoroid impacts may form rings around the dwarf planet, but the Hubble photographs have not detected any so far. This surprising observation is a powerful reminder of Hubble's ability as a general purpose astronomical observatory to make astounding, unintended discoveries, said
Re: [meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moon around Pluto
EREBUS (Darkness and Shadow), the brother of Nyx (already a satellite of Pluto), and a name NOT yet taken for a minor planet. Erebus and Nyx had a daughter -- Nemesis (a ruined name), as is Cerebus (minor planet). The pair gave birth to Aether (atmosphere) and Hemera (day). Later, on her own, Nyx gives birth to Momus (blame), Moros (doom), Thanatos (death), Hypnos (sleep), Charon (the ferryman of Hades), the Oneiroi (dreams), the Hesperides, the Keres and Moirae (Fates), Nemesis (retribution), Apate (deception), Philotes (friendship), Geras (age), and Eris (strife). The Plutonian satellite Nix is spelled that way, as a cheat to use the name even though there is a minor planet 3908 Nyx. You could change the spelling of 1865 Cerberus to Cerberis and have the three-headed dog (suitable for a small yappy moon). Sterling K. Webb - - Original Message - From: karmaka karm...@email.de To: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2011 3:29 PM Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moon around Pluto How should S/2011 (134340) 1 be called? Any suggestions? How about KALI ? It's not Greek, but ... Martin -Ursprüngliche Nachricht- Von: karmaka karm...@email.de Gesendet: 20.07.2011 22:11:26 An: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Betreff: Re: [meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moon around Pluto Fascinating news !!! Thank you for sharing this, Robert. It's hard to wait another four years until New Horizons reveals more secrets from the icy spheres around Pluto. But that's 'space' Best wishes Martin -Ursprüngliche Nachricht- Von: Matson, Robert D. robert.d.mat...@saic.com Gesendet: 20.07.2011 20:35:17 An: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Betreff: [meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moon around Pluto Hi All, Pluto has a 4th moon! Here's a link to the CBAT: http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/cbet/cbet002769.txt Below is the NASA News release: July 20, 2011 Trent J. Perrotto Headquarters, Washington trent.j.perro...@nasa.gov 202-358-0321 Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore vill...@stsci.edu 410-338-4514 Karen Randall SETI Institute, Mountain View, Calif. krand...@seti.org 650-960-4537 RELEASE: 11-234 NASA'S HUBBLE DISCOVERS ANOTHER MOON AROUND PLUTO WASHINGTON -- Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope discovered a fourth moon orbiting the icy dwarf planet Pluto. The tiny, new satellite, temporarily designated P4, was uncovered in a Hubble survey searching for rings around the dwarf planet. The new moon is the smallest discovered around Pluto. It has an estimated diameter of 8 to 21 miles (13 to 34 km). By comparison, Charon, Pluto's largest moon, is 648 miles (1,043 km) across, and the other moons, Nix and Hydra, are in the range of 20 to 70 miles in diameter (32 to 113 km). I find it remarkable that Hubble's cameras enabled us to see such a tiny object so clearly from a distance of more than 3 billion miles (5 billion km), said Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif., who led this observing program with Hubble. The finding is a result of ongoing work to support NASA's New Horizons mission, scheduled to fly through the Pluto system in 2015. The mission is designed to provide new insights about worlds at the edge of our solar system. Hubble's mapping of Pluto's surface and discovery of its satellites have been invaluable to planning for New Horizons' close encounter. This is a fantastic discovery, said New Horizons' principal investigator Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo. Now that we know there's another moon in the Pluto system, we can plan close-up observations of it during our flyby. The new moon is located between the orbits of Nix and Hydra, which Hubble discovered in 2005. Charon was discovered in 1978 at the U.S. Naval Observatory and first resolved using Hubble in 1990 as a separate body from Pluto. The dwarf planet's entire moon system is believed to have formed by a collision between Pluto and another planet-sized body early in the history of the solar system. The smashup flung material that coalesced into the family of satellites observed around Pluto. Lunar rocks returned to Earth from the Apollo missions led to the theory that our moon was the result of a similar collision between Earth and a Mars-sized body 4.4 billion years ago. Scientists believe material blasted off Pluto's moons by micrometeoroid impacts may form rings around the dwarf planet, but the Hubble photographs have not detected any so far. This surprising observation is a powerful reminder of Hubble's ability as a general purpose astronomical observatory to make astounding, unintended discoveries, said Jon Morse, astrophysics division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington. P4 was first seen in a photo taken with Hubble's Wide Field
Re: [meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moon around Pluto
How should S/2011 (134340) 1 be called? Any suggestions... I took a look at Wiki and saw names like Fifi, Dinah and even Goofy. Might work. Carl2 __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moonaround Pluto
even Goofy... Goofy, a humanoid cartoon Dog, has a canine cartoon Dog, Pluto, as a pet. You know, even when I was a kid, that bothered me. How can Pluto (the planet) have Goofy (the satellite) as a moon? That's just piling one craziness on top of another. Goofy is not a mythological name, as required; the idea is just... goofy. Since the new satellite is a 3-pixel blob, why not just call it Spot? I respect the right of discoverers to name the object (by changing the name slightly as was done with Nyx=Nix One should bear in mind that there may well be many more moons of Pluto waiting to be discovered. Thankfully that list of the offspring of Nix (Nyx) is very long. Here it is: AEthyr, Hemera, Momus, Moros, Oizys, Geras, Thanatos, Hypnos, Charon, Apate, Philotes, Eris, Morphius, Epiales, Icelus, Phobetor, Aegle, Arethusa, Erytheia, Hesperia, Lipara, Asterope, Chrysothemis, Klotho, Lakhesis, Atropos... Bring on the Moons! Sterling K. Webb --- - Original Message - From: Carl 's carloselgua...@hotmail.com To: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2011 9:26 PM Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope discovers 4th moonaround Pluto How should S/2011 (134340) 1 be called? Any suggestions... I took a look at Wiki and saw names like Fifi, Dinah and even Goofy. Might work. Carl2 __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Hubble Space Telescope Captures Rare Jupiter Collision
July 24, 2009 Dwayne Brown Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1726 dwayne.c.br...@nasa.gov Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore 410-338-4514 vill...@stsci.edu RELEASE: 09-176 HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE CAPTURES RARE JUPITER COLLISION BALTIMORE -- NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has taken the sharpest visible-light picture yet of atmospheric debris from an object that collided with Jupiter on July 19. NASA scientists decided to interrupt the recently refurbished observatory's checkout and calibration to take the image of a new, expanding spot on the giant planet on July 23. Discovered by Australian amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley, the spot was created when a small comet or asteroid plunged into Jupiter's atmosphere and disintegrated. The only other time such a feature has been seen on Jupiter was 15 years ago after the collision of fragments from comet Shoemaker-Levy 9. Because we believe this magnitude of impact is rare, we are very fortunate to see it with Hubble, said Amy Simon-Miller of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Details seen in the Hubble view shows a lumpiness to the debris plume caused by turbulence in Jupiter's atmosphere. The new Hubble images also confirm that a May servicing visit by space shuttle astronauts was a big success. This image of the impact on Jupiter is fantastic, said U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, D-Md., chairwoman of the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Subcommittee. It tells us that our astronauts and the ground crew at the Goddard Space Flight Center successfully repaired the Hubble telescope. I'm so proud of them and I can't wait to see what's next from Hubble. For the past several days, Earth-based telescopes have been trained on Jupiter. To capture the unfolding drama 360 million miles away, Matt Mountain, director of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, gave observation time to a team of astronomers led by Heidi Hammel of the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. Hubble's truly exquisite imaging capability has revealed an astonishing wealth of detail in the impact site, Hammel said. By combining these images with our ground-based data at other wavelengths, our Hubble data will allow a comprehensive understanding of exactly what is happening to the impact debris. Simon-Miller estimated the diameter of the impacting object was the size of several football fields. The force of the explosion on Jupiter was thousands of times more powerful than the suspected comet or asteroid that exploded over the Siberian Tunguska River Valley in June 1908. The image was taken with the Wide Field Camera 3. The new camera, installed by the astronauts aboard space shuttle Atlantis in May, is not yet fully calibrated. While it is possible to obtain celestial images, the camera's full power has yet to be seen. This is just one example of what Hubble's new, state-of-the-art camera can do, thanks to the STS-125 astronauts and the entire Hubble team, said Ed Weiler, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. However, the best is yet to come. To view the image and obtain more information about Jupiter's new spot, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/hubble -end- __ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Hubble Zooms in on Comet 17P/Holmes
http://www.spacetelescope.org/news/html/heic0718.html Photo Release - heic0718: Hubble zooms in on heart of mystery comet 15-Nov-2007: The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has probed the bright core of Comet 17P/Holmes which, to the delight of sky watchers, mysteriously brightened by nearly a million-fold in a 24-hour period beginning October 23, 2007. Astronomers have used Hubble's powerful resolution to study Comet Holmes' core for clues about how the comet brightened. The orbiting observatory's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) monitored the comet for several days, snapping images on 29 Oct., 31 Oct. and 4 Nov. Hubble's crisp eye can see details as small as 54 kilometres across, providing the sharpest view yet of the source of the spectacular brightening. The Hubble image at right, taken on 4 Nov., shows the heart of the comet. The central portion of the image has been specially processed to highlight variations in the dust distribution near the nucleus. About twice as much dust lies along the east-west direction (the horizontal direction) as along the north-south direction (the vertical direction), giving the comet a bow tie appearance. The composite colour image at left, taken Nov. 1 by the amateur astronomer Alan Dyer, shows the complex structure of the entire coma, consisting of concentric shells of dust and a faint tail emanating from the comet's right side. The nucleus - the small solid body that is the source of the comet's activity - is still swaddled in bright dust, even 12 days after the spectacular outburst. Most of what Hubble sees is sunlight scattered from microscopic particles, explained Hal Weaver of The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory of Laurel, Maryland in the USA, who led the Hubble investigation. But we may finally be starting to detect the emergence of the nucleus itself in this final Hubble image. Hubble first observed Comet 17P/Holmes on June 15, 1999, when there was virtually no dusty shroud around the nucleus. Although Hubble cannot resolve the nucleus, astronomers inferred its size by measuring its brightness. Astronomers deduced that the nucleus's diameter was approximately 3.4 kilometres, about the distance between the Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre glass pyramid in Paris. They hope to use the new Hubble images to determine the size of the comet's nucleus to see how much of it was blasted away during the outburst. Hubble's two earlier snapshots of Comet Holmes also showed some interesting features. On 29 Oct. the telescope spied three spurs of dust emanating from the nucleus while the Hubble images taken on 31 Oct. revealed an outburst of dust just west of the nucleus. The Hubble images however do not show any large fragments near the nucleus of Comet Holmes, unlike the case of Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 (SW3). In the spring of 2006 Hubble observations revealed a multitude of mini-comets ejected by SW3 after the comet increased dramatically in brightness. Ground-based images of Comet Holmes show a large, spherically symmetrical cloud of dust that is offset from the nucleus, suggesting that a large fragment broke off and subsequently disintegrated into tiny dust particles after moving away from the main nucleus. Unfortunately, the huge amount of dust near the comet's nucleus and the relatively large distance from Earth (240 million kilometres, or 1.6 astronomical units for Holmes versus 15 million kilometres, 0.1 astronomical units for SW3), conspire to make detecting fragments near Holmes nearly impossible right now, unless the fragments are nearly as large as the nucleus itself. Notes for editors: The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. The Applied Physics Laboratory, a not-for-profit division of The Johns Hopkins University, meets critical national challenges through the innovative application of science and technology. For more information, visit www.jhuapl.edu. The Hubble Comet Holmes observing team comprises H. Weaver and C. Lisse (The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory); P. Lamy (Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, France); I. Toth (Konkoly Observatory, Hungary); M. Mutchler (Space Telescope Science Institute); W. Reach (California Institute of Technology); and J. Vaubaillon (California Institute of Technology). Credit for Hubble image: NASA, ESA, and H. Weaver (The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory) Credit for ground-based image: A. Dyer, Alberta, Canada Links: NASA photo release http://hubblesite.org/news/2007/40 Johns Hopkins University http://www.jhuapl.edu Contacts: Philippe Lamy Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, France Tel.: +33-4-91-05-59-32 Cellular: +33-630-14-92-33 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Lars Lindberg Christensen Hubble/ESA, Garching, Germany Tel: +49-(0)89-3200-6306 Cellular: +49-(0)173-3872-621 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Donna Weaver/Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute,
[meteorite-list] Hubble Images of Vesta Ceres Help Astronomers Prepare for Dawn Visit
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2007/27/image/a/ News Release Number: STScI-2007-27 Hubble Images of Asteroids Help Astronomers Prepare for Spacecraft Visit June 20, 2007 ABOUT THIS IMAGE: These Hubble Space Telescope images of Vesta and Ceres show two of the most massive asteroids in the asteroid belt, a region between Mars and Jupiter. The images are helping astronomers plan for the Dawn spacecraft's tour of these hefty asteroids. On July 7, NASA is scheduled to launch the spacecraft on a four-year journey to the asteroid belt. Once there, Dawn will do some asteroid-hopping, going into orbit around Vesta in 2011 and Ceres in 2015. Dawn will be the first spacecraft to orbit two targets. At least 100,000 asteroids inhabit the asteroid belt, a reservoir of leftover material from the formation of our solar-system planets 4.6 billion years ago. Dawn also will be the first satellite to tour a dwarf planet. The International Astronomical Union named Ceres one of three dwarf planets in 2006. Ceres is round like planets in our solar system, but it does not clear debris out of its orbit as our planets do. To prepare for the Dawn spacecraft's visit to Vesta, astronomers used Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 to snap new images of the asteroid. The image at right was taken on May 14 and 16, 2007. Using Hubble, astronomers mapped Vesta's southern hemisphere, a region dominated by a giant impact crater formed by a collision billions of years ago. The crater is 285 miles (456 kilometers) across, which is nearly equal to Vesta's 330-mile (530-kilometer) diameter. If Earth had a crater of proportional size, it would fill the Pacific Ocean basin. The impact broke off chunks of rock, producing more than 50 smaller asteroids that astronomers have nicknamed vestoids. The collision also may have blasted through Vesta's crust. Vesta is about the size of Arizona. Previous Hubble images of Vesta's southern hemisphere were taken in 1994 and 1996 with the wide-field camera. In this new set of images, Hubble's sharp eye can see features as small as about 37 miles (60 kilometers) across. The image shows the difference in brightness and color on the asteroid's surface. These characteristics hint at the large-scale features that the Dawn spacecraft will see when it arrives at Vesta. Hubble's view reveals extensive global features stretching longitudinally from the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere. The image also shows widespread differences in brightness in the east and west, which probably reflects compositional changes. Both of these characteristics could reveal volcanic activity throughout Vesta. The size of these different regions varies. Some are hundreds of miles across. The brightness differences could be similar to the effect seen on the Moon, where smooth, dark regions are more iron-rich than the brighter highlands that contain minerals richer in calcium and aluminum. When Vesta was forming 4.5 billion years ago, it was heated to the melting temperatures of rock. This heating allowed heavier material to sink to Vesta's center and lighter minerals to rise to the surface. Astronomers combined images of Vesta in two colors to study the variations in iron-bearing minerals. From these minerals, they hope to learn more about Vesta's surface structure and composition. Astronomers expect that Dawn will provide rich details about the asteroid's surface and interior structure. The Hubble image of Ceres on the left reveals bright and dark regions on the asteroid's surface that could be topographic features, such as craters, and/or areas containing different surface material. Large impacts may have caused some of these features and potentially added new material to the landscape. The Texas-sized asteroid holds about 30 to 40 percent of the mass in the asteroid belt. Ceres' round shape suggests that its interior is layered like those of terrestrial planets such as Earth. The asteroid may have a rocky inner core, an icy mantle, and a thin, dusty outer crust. The asteroid may even have water locked beneath its surface. It is approximately 590 miles (950 kilometers) across and was the first asteroid discovered in 1801. The observations were made in visible and ultraviolet light between December 2003 and January 2004 with the Advanced Camera for Surveys. The color variations in the image show either a difference in texture or composition on Ceres' surface. Astronomers need the close-up views of the Dawn spacecraft to determine the characteristics of these regional differences. For additional information, contact: Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md. (Phone: 410-338-4514; E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) Dr. Lucy McFadden University of Maryland, College Park, Md. (Phone: 301-405-2081; E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) Object Names: Ceres, 1 Ceres, Vesta, 4 Vesta Image Type: Astronomical Credits for Vesta: NASA; ESA; L. McFadden and J.Y. Li (University of Maryland,
[meteorite-list] Hubble
Hello, Here is some good news: _http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/nasa-approves-repairs-for-hubble/2006102 7150509990009?cid=2194_ (http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/nasa-approves-repairs-for-hubble/20061027150509990009?cid=2194) Anne M. Black www.IMPACTIKA.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] President, I.M.C.A. Inc. www.IMCA.cc __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Hubble
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Here is some good news: (http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/nasa-approves-repairs-for- hubble/20061027150509990009?cid=2194) Good news indeed! BTW: A repair in 1993 and in 1999 was (partly) conducted by our Swiss astronaut Claude Nicollier: STS-103 Discovery (19-27 December 1999) was an 8-day mission. The primary objective was the repair and servicing of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), in particular the replacement of six gyroscopes which are necessary to meet the telescope`s very precise pointing requirement. During this spaceflight, Nicollier carried out his first spacewalk (EVA), of 08:10 hours duration, to install a new computer and one of three fine guidance sensors. He is the first European to obtain EVA experience on a Shuttle flight. Cheers, Peter __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Hubble Provides Spectacular Detail of a Comet's Breakup (Schwassmann-Wachmann 3)
FOR RELEASE: 1:00 pm (EDT) April 27, 2006 PHOTO NO.: STScI-PRC06-18 HUBBLE PROVIDES SPECTACULAR DETAIL OF A COMET'S BREAKUP NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is providing astronomers with extraordinary views of Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3. The fragile comet is rapidly disintegrating as it approaches the Sun. Hubble images have uncovered many more fragments than have been reported by ground-based observers. These observations provide an unprecedented opportunity to study the demise of a comet nucleus. The comet is currently a chain of over three dozen separate fragments, named alphabetically, stretching across the sky by several times the angular diameter of the Moon. Hubble caught two of the fragments, B and G (top frames) shortly after large outbursts in activity on April 18, 19, and 20, 2006. Hubble shows several dozen mini-comets trailing behind each main fragment, probably associated with the ejection of house-sized chunks of surface material. Deep-freeze relics of the early solar system, cometary nuclei are porous and fragile mixes of dust and ices that can break apart due to the thermal, gravitational, and dynamical stresses of approaching the Sun. Whether any of the many fragments survive the trip around the Sun remains to be seen in the weeks ahead. Credit for Hubble images: NASA, ESA, H. Weaver (JHU/APL), M. Mutchler and Z. Levay (STScI) Credit for ground-based image: G. Rhemann and M. Jager To see and read more about the comet on the Web, visit: http://hubblesite.org/news/2006/18 http://www.jhuapl.edu/newscenter/pressreleases/2006/060427.asp http://www.spacetelescope.org For more information, contact: Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md. (Phone: 410-338-4514, E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) or Michael Buckley Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, Laurel, Md. (Phone: 443-778-7536, E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) or Hal Weaver Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md. (Phone: 443-778-8078, Cell phone: 410-978-5172, E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) The Hubble Space Telescope is an international cooperative project between NASA and the European Space Agency. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore conducts Hubble science operations. The Institute is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., Washington. __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Hubble Finds That 2003 UB313 is Slightly Larger Than Pluto
FOR RELEASE: 1:00 pm (EDT) April 11, 2006 Erica Hupp/Dwayne Brown Headquarters, Washington (Phone: 202/358-1237/1726) Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md. (Phone: 410/338-4514; E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) PRESS RELEASE NO.: STScI-PR06-16 HUBBLE FINDS THAT THE 'TENTH PLANET' IS SLIGHTLY LARGER THAN PLUTO NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has resolved the tenth planet, nicknamed Xena, for the first time and has found that it is only just a little larger than Pluto. Though previous ground-based observations suggested that Xena was about 30 percent greater in diameter than Pluto, Hubble observations taken on Dec. 9 and 10, 2005, yield a diameter of 1,490 miles (with an uncertainty of 60 miles) for Xena. Pluto's diameter, as measured by Hubble, is 1,422 miles. Xena is officially catalogued as 2003 UB313. It is the large object at the bottom of this artist's concept. A portion of its surface is lit by the Sun, located in the upper left corner of the image. Xena's companion, Gabrielle, is located just above and to the left of Xena. For electronic images and additional information about the research on the Web, visit: http://hubblesite.org/news/2006/16 http://www.nasa.gov/hubble For more information, contact Robert Tindol, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, (phone) 626-395-3631, (e-mail) [EMAIL PROTECTED], or Mike Brown, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, (phone) 626-395-8423, (e-mail) [EMAIL PROTECTED] . The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore conducts Hubble science operations. The Institute is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., Washington. __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Hubble Captures Deep Impact's Collision with Comet
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/2005/17/ Hubble Captures Deep Impact's Collision with Comet NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured the dramatic effects of the collision early July 4 between an 820-pound projectile released by the Deep Impact spacecraft and comet 9P/Tempel 1. This sequence of images shows the comet before and after the impact. The visible-light images were taken by the Advanced Camera for Surveys' High Resolution Camera. Credit: NASA, ESA, P. Feldman (Johns Hopkins University), and H. Weaver (Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab) __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Hubble Captures Outburst from Comet Targeted by Deep Impact
FOR RELEASE: 10:00 am (EDT) June 27, 2005 PHOTO NO.: STScI-PRC05-16 HUBBLE CAPTURES OUTBURST FROM COMET TARGETED BY DEEP IMPACT In a dress rehearsal for the rendezvous between NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft and comet 9P/Tempel 1, the Hubble Space Telescope captured dramatic images of a new jet of dust streaming from the icy comet. The images are a reminder that Tempel 1's icy nucleus, roughly half the size of Manhattan, is dynamic and volatile. Astronomers hope the eruption of dust seen in these observations is a preview of the fireworks that may come July 4, when a probe from the Deep Impact spacecraft will slam into the comet, possibly blasting off material and giving rise to a similar plume of dust and gas. Credit: NASA, ESA, P. Feldman (Johns Hopkins University), and H. Weaver (Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Lab) For the full story, please visit: http://hubblesite.org/news/2005/16 http://www.spacetelescope.org For additional information, contact: Ray Villard, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD (Phone: 410-338-4514; E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) Paul Feldman, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, (Phone: 410-516-7339; E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) Hal Weaver, Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Lab, Laurel, MD (Phone: 443-778-8078; E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) Lars Lindberg Christensen, Hubble European Space Agency Information Centre, Garching, Germany, (Phone: +49-(0)89-3200-6306; Cell: +49-(0)173-3872-621; E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA), for NASA, under contract with the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Hubble Tracks Asteroid's Sky Trek
FOR RELEASE: November 11, 2004 PHOTO NO.: STScI-PRC04-31a HUBBLE TRACKS ASTEROID'S SKY TREK While analyzing NASA Hubble Space Telescope images of the Sagittarius dwarf irregular galaxy (SagDIG), an international team of astronomers led by Simone Marchi, Yazan Momany, and Luigi Bedin were surprised to see the trail of a faint asteroid that had drifted across the field of view during the exposures. The trail is seen as a series of 13 reddish arcs on the right in this August 2003 Advanced Camera for Surveys image. The team reported their science findings about the asteroid in the October 2004 issue of New Astronomy. Credit: NASA, ESA and Y. Momany (University of Padua) To see and read more, please visit: http://hubblesite.org/news/2004/31 http://heritage.stsci.edu/2004/31 For additional information, please contact: Yazan Momany, Department of Astronomy, University of Padua, vicolo dell'Osservatorio 2, I-35122 Padova, Italy, (phone) 39-049-827-8251, (e-mail) [EMAIL PROTECTED] . The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA), for NASA, under contract with the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). __ Meteorite-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Hubble hit by instrument failure
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3545130.stm Hubble hit by instrument failure One of the four instruments on board the Hubble Space Telescope has stopped working, US space agency Nasa has said. The exact source of the problem is not known. The STIS, or Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, was installed during the second Hubble servicing mission in 1997 and was designed to work for five years It was used to investigate black holes, to discover dim stars that reveal clues to the age of the Universe and study the atmosphere of an extrasolar planet. Engineers are currently trying to track down the source of the problem. __ Meteorite-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Hubble photos
below is an AMAZING overview of Hubble photos WELL WORTH checking out! : http://wires.news.com.au/special/mm/030811-hubble.htm (PS: Those of you still on AOL, you will have to Copy the above URL address, then open your browser, then Paste the address in the browser address box then hit enter or return.) Best wishes, Michael -- Don't accept rides from strange men, and remember that all men are strange. Robin Morgan -- http://www.costofwar.com/ -- SUPPORT OUR TROUPS: http://www.takebackthemedia.com/onearmy.html -- Worth Seeing: - Earth at night from satellite: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0011/earthlights_dmsp_big.jpg - Interactive Lady Liberty: http://doody36.home.attbi.com/liberty.htm - Earth - variety of choices: http://www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/vplanet.html -- Panoramic view of Meteor Crater: http://www.virtualguidebooks.com/Arizona/GrandCanyonRoute66/MeteorCrater/Met eorCraterRimL.html -- Cool Calendar Clock: http://www.yugop.com/ver3/stuff/03/fla.html -- Michael Blood Meteorites Didgeridoos for sale at: http://www.michaelbloodmeteorites.com/ __ Meteorite-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Hubble photos
Thanks for the link Michael, it's great ! Frederic - Original Message - From: Michael L Blood [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Meteorite List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2003 8:36 PM Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Hubble photos below is an AMAZING overview of Hubble photos WELL WORTH checking out! : http://wires.news.com.au/special/mm/030811-hubble.htm (PS: Those of you still on AOL, you will have to Copy the above URL address, then open your browser, then Paste the address in the browser address box then hit enter or return.) Best wishes, Michael -- Don't accept rides from strange men, and remember that all men are strange. Robin Morgan -- http://www.costofwar.com/ -- SUPPORT OUR TROUPS: http://www.takebackthemedia.com/onearmy.html -- Worth Seeing: - Earth at night from satellite: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0011/earthlights_dmsp_big.jpg - Interactive Lady Liberty: http://doody36.home.attbi.com/liberty.htm - Earth - variety of choices: http://www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/vplanet.html -- Panoramic view of Meteor Crater: http://www.virtualguidebooks.com/Arizona/GrandCanyonRoute66/MeteorCrater/Met eorCraterRimL.html -- Cool Calendar Clock: http://www.yugop.com/ver3/stuff/03/fla.html -- Michael Blood Meteorites Didgeridoos for sale at: http://www.michaelbloodmeteorites.com/ __ Meteorite-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Meteorite-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Hubble Finds Farthest, Faintest Solar System Objects Beyond Neptune
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/2003/25/text EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE: 3:00 P.M. (EDT) SEPTEMBER 6, 2003 CONTACT: Steve Bradt University of Pennsylvania Phone: 215/573-6604; Pager: 215/524-6272 Donna Weaver Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md. Phone: 410/338-4493; E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] PRESS RELEASE NO.: STScI-PR03-25 FARTHEST, FAINTEST SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTS FOUND BEYOND NEPTUNE Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have discovered three of the faintest and smallest objects ever detected beyond Neptune. Each object is a lump of ice and rock - roughly the size of Philadelphia - orbiting beyond Neptune and Pluto, where the icy bodies may have dwelled since the formation of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago. They reside in a ring-shaped region called the Kuiper Belt, which houses a swarm of icy rocks that are leftover building blocks, or planetesimals, from the solar system's creation. The results of the search were announced by a group led by astronomer Gary Bernstein of the University of Pennsylvania at today's meeting of the Division of Planetary Sciences in Monterey, Calif. The study's big surprise is that so few Kuiper Belt members were discovered. With Hubble's exquisite resolution, Bernstein and his co- workers expected to find at least 60 Kuiper Belt members as small as 10 miles (15 km) in diameter - but only three were discovered. Discovering many fewer Kuiper Belt objects than was predicted makes it difficult to understand how so many comets appear near Earth, since many comets were thought to originate in the Kuiper Belt, Bernstein says. This is a sign that perhaps the smaller planetesimals have been shattered into dust by colliding with each other over the past few billion years. Bernstein and his colleagues used Hubble to look for planetesimals that are much smaller and fainter than can be seen from ground-based telescopes. Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys was pointed at a region in the constellation Virgo over a 15-day period in January and February 2003. A bank of 10 computers on the ground worked for six months searching for faint-moving spots in the Hubble images. The search netted three small objects, named 2003 BF91, 2003 BG91, and 2003 BH91, which range in size from 15-28 miles (25-45 km) across. They are the smallest objects ever found beyond Neptune. At their current locations, these icy bodies are a billion times fainter (29th magnitude) than the dimmest objects visible to the naked eye. But an icy body of this size that escapes the Kuiper Belt to wander near the Sun can become visible from Earth as a comet as the wandering body starts to evaporate and form a surrounding cloud. Astronomers are probing the Kuiper Belt because the region offers a window on the early history of our solar system. The planets formed over 4 billion years ago from a cloud of gas and dust that surrounded the infant Sun. Microscopic bits of ice and dust stuck together to form lumps that grew from pebbles to boulders to city- or continent-sized planetesimals. The known planets and moons are the result of collisions between planetesimals. In most of the solar system, all of the planetesimals have either been absorbed into planets or ejected into interstellar space, destroying the traces of the early days of the solar system. Around 1950, Gerard Kuiper and Kenneth Edgeworth proposed that in the region beyond Neptune there are no planets capable of ejecting the leftover planetesimals. There should be a zone, the two astronomers said- now called the Kuiper Belt - filled with small, icy bodies. Despite many years of searching, the first such object was not found until 1992. Since then, astronomers have discovered nearly 1,000 from ground-based telescopes. Most astronomers now believe that Pluto, discovered in 1930, is in fact a member of the Kuiper Belt. Astronomers now use the Kuiper Belt to learn about the history of the solar system, much as paleontologists use fossils to study early life. Each event that affected the outer solar system - such as possible gravitational disturbances from passing stars or long-vanished planets - is frozen into the properties of the Kuiper Belt members that astronomers see today. If the Hubble telescope could search the entire sky, it would find perhaps a half million planetesimals. If collected into a single planet, however, the resulting object would be only a few times larger than Pluto. The new Hubble observations, combined with the latest ground-based Kuiper Belt surveys, reinforce the idea that Pluto itself and its moon Charon are just large Kuiper Belt members. Why the Kuiper Belt planetesimals did not form a larger planet, and why there are fewer small planetesimals than expected, are questions that will be answered with further Kuiper Belt studies. These studies will help astronomers understand how planets may have formed around other stars as well. The new Hubble results were reported by Bernstein and David Trilling
[meteorite-list] Hubble Assists Rosetta Comet Mission
Paris, 5 September 2003 European Space Agency Press Release N° 55-2003 EMBARGOED UNTIL 21:00 CEST Hubble assists Rosetta comet mission Results from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have played a major role in preparing ESA's ambitious Rosetta mission for its new target, comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Hubble has been used to make precise measurements of the size, shape and rotational period of the comet. Information that is essential if Rosetta is to rendezvous with the comet and then drop down a probe, something never before attempted and yet a major step towards elucidating the origins of the solar system. Observations made by Hubble in March this year revealed that comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P/C-G) is approximately five by three kilometres in size and shaped like a rugby ball. ESA mission scientists were concerned about the exact size of the solid nucleus, which is needed to adapt the mission to the comet's gravity. Although 67P/C-G is roughly three times larger than the original Rosetta target, its highly elongated shape should make landing on its nucleus feasible, now that measures are in place to adapt the lander package to the new scenario, says Dr Philippe Lamy of the Laboratoire d'Astronomie Spatiale in France, who is presenting the Hubble results on comet 67P/C-G today at the annual meeting of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society in California, USA. Mission scientists began looking for an alternative target when the Rosetta mission's launch date was postponed. The delay meant that the original target comet, 46P/Wirtanen, was no longer easily reachable. But scientists did not have enough information on the back-up comet, 67P/C-G, and sought data from the largest telescopes. Using a technique developed over the past decade by Philippe Lamy, Imre Toth (Konkoly Observatory, Hungary), and Harold Weaver (Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, USA), the team snapped 61 Hubble images of comet 67P/C-G over a period of 21 hours on 11 and 12 March. Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 isolated the comet's nucleus from the coma, the diffuse gas surrounding the nucleus, quickly providing the figures required. The telescope showed that the nucleus is ellipsoidal and measured its rotation rate at approximately 12 hours. Rosetta's launch is currently planned for February 2004, with a rendezvous with the comet about 10 years later. # # # Notes for editors The team is made up of P. L. Lamy and L. Jorda (Laboratoire d'Astronomie Spatiale, France), I. Toth (Konkoly Observatory, Hungary), and H.A. Weaver (Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory). The movie simulation of the Hubble results is provided by Mikko Kaasalainen (University of Helsinki, Finland) and Pedro Gutierrez (Laboratoire d'Astronomie Spatiale, France). The observations were made possible through a special programme approved by the Director of the Space Telescope Science Institute, S. Beckwith. For more information, please contact: Philippe Lamy Laboratoire d'Astronomie Spatiale, France Cellular: +33-630-14-92-33 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Lars Lindberg Christensen Hubble European Space Agency Information Centre, Garching, Germany Tel: +49-89-3200-6306 (089 within Germany) Cellular (24 hr): +49-173-3872-621 (0173 within Germany) E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA Tel: +1-410-338-4514) E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Michael Buckley Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, USA Tel: +1-443-778-7536 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __ Meteorite-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Hubble Spots An Icy World Far Beyond Pluto
Donald Savage Headquarters, Washington October 7, 2002 (Phone: 202/358-1547) Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore (Phone: 410/338-4514) Robert Tindol Caltech, Pasadena, Calif. (Phone: 626/395-3631) RELEASE: 02-190 HUBBLE SPOTS AN ICY WORLD FAR BEYOND PLUTO NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has measured the largest object in the solar system seen since the discovery of Pluto 72 years ago. Approximately half the size of Pluto, the icy world 2002 LM60, dubbed Quaoar (pronounced kwa-whar) by its discoverers, is the farthest object in the solar system ever to be resolved by a telescope. It was initially detected by a ground-based telescope as simply a dot of light, until astronomers aimed Hubble's powerful telescope at it. Quaoar is about 4 billion miles away from Earth, well over a billion miles farther away than Pluto. Unlike Pluto, its orbit around the Sun is circular, even more so than most of the planetary-class bodies in the solar system. Although smaller than Pluto, Quaoar is greater in volume than all the asteroids combined (though probably only one-third the mass of the asteroid belt, because it's icy rather than rocky). Quaoar's composition is theorized to be largely ices mixed with rock, not unlike the makeup of a comet, though 100 million times greater in volume. This finding yields important new insights into the origin and dynamics of the planets, and the mysterious population of bodies dwelling in the solar system's final frontier: the elusive, icy Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune. Michael Brown and Chadwick Trujillo of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. are reporting the findings today at the 34th annual meeting of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society in Birmingham, Ala. Earlier this year, Trujillo and Brown used the Palomar Oschin Schmidt telescope to discover Quaoar as an 18.5-magnitude object creeping across the summer constellation Ophiuchus (it's less than 1/100,000 the brightness of the faintest star seen by the human eye). Brown had to do follow-up observations using Hubble's new Advanced Camera for Surveys on July 5 and August 1, 2002, to measure the object's true angular size of 40 milliarcseconds, corresponding to a diameter of about 800 miles (1300 kilometers). Only Hubble has the sharpness needed to actually resolve the disk of the distant world, leading to the first-ever direct measurement of the true size of a Kuiper Belt Object (KBO). Like Pluto, Quaoar dwells in the Kuiper Belt, an icy debris field of comet-like bodies extending 7 billion miles beyond Neptune's orbit. Over the past decade more than 500 icy bodies have been found in the Kuiper Belt. With a few exceptions all have been significantly smaller than Pluto. Previous record holders are a KBO called Varuna, and an object called 2002 AW197, each approximately 540 miles across (900 kilometers). Unlike dimensions derived from Hubble's direct observations, these diameters are deduced from measuring the objects' temperatures and calculating a size based on assumptions about the KBOs' reflectivity, so the uncertainty in true size is much greater. This latest large KBO is too new to have been officially named by the International Astronomical Union. Trujillo and Brown have proposed naming it after a creation god of the Native American Tongva tribe, the original inhabitants of the Los Angeles basin. According to legend, Quaoar came down from heaven; and, after reducing chaos to order, laid out the world on the back of seven giants. He then created the lower animals, and then mankind. Quaoar's icy dwarf cousin, Pluto, was discovered in 1930 in the course of a 15-year search for trans-Neptunian planets. It wasn't realized until much later that Pluto actually was the largest of the known Kuiper Belt objects. The Kuiper Belt wasn't theorized until 1950, after comet orbits provided telltale evidence of a vast nesting ground for comets just beyond Neptune. The first recognized Kuiper Belt objects were not discovered until the early 1990s. This new object is by far the biggest fish astronomers have snagged in KBO surveys. Brown predicts, within a few years, even larger KBOs will be found, and Hubble will be invaluable for follow-up observations to pin down sizes. Electronic images, illustrations, animation, and additional information are available at: http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pr/2002/17 - end - __ Meteorite-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Hubble Telescope...
Folks, It appears that 60 Minutes is running a story on the Hubble Telescope on their show this evening. The preview looked good. Jerry __ Meteorite-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Hubble Hunts Down Odd Couples At The Fringes Of Our Solar System
Donald Savage Headquarters,WashingtonApril 17, 2002 (Phone: 202/358-1727) Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore (Phone: 410/338-4514) Nancy Neal Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. (Phone: 301/286-0039) Christian Veillet Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Corporation, Kamuela, Hawaii (Phone: 808/885-3161) RELEASE: 02-70 HUBBLE HUNTS DOWN ODD COUPLES AT THE FRINGES OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is hot on the trail of an intriguing new class of solar system object that might be called a Pluto mini-me -- dim and fleeting objects that travel in pairs in the frigid, mysterious outer realm of the solar system called the Kuiper Belt. In results published today in the journal Nature, a team of astronomers led by Christian Veillet of the Canada-France- Hawaii Telescope Corporation (CFHT) in Kamuela, Hawaii, is reporting the most detailed observations yet of the Kuiper Belt object (KBO) 1998 WW31, which was discovered four years ago and found to be a binary last year by the CFHT. Pluto and its moon Charon and countless icy bodies known as KBOs inhabit a vast region of space called the Kuiper Belt. This junkyard of material left over from the solar system's formation extends from the orbit of Neptune out to 100 times as far as the Earth is from the Sun (which is about 93 million miles) and is the source of at least half the short- period comets that whiz through our solar system. Only recently have astronomers found that a small percentage of KBOs are actually two objects orbiting around each other, called binaries. More than one percent of the approximately 500 known KBOs are indeed binary: a puzzling fact for which many explanations will be proposed in what is going to be a very exciting and rapidly evolving field of research in the coming years, says Veillet. Hubble was able to measure the total mass of the pair based on their mutual 570-day orbit (a technique Isaac Newton used 400 years ago to estimate the mass of our Moon). Together, the odd-couple 1998 WW31 is about 5,000 times less massive than Pluto and Charon. Like a pair of waltzing skaters, the binary KBOs pivot around a common center of gravity. The orbit of 1998 WW31 is the most eccentric ever measured for any binary solar-system object or planetary satellite. Its orbital distance varies by a factor of ten, from 2,500 to 25,000 miles (4,000 to 40,000 kilometers). It is difficult to determine how KBOs wind up traveling in pairs. They may have formed that way, born like twins, or may be produced by collisions where a single body is split in two. Ever since the first KBO was discovered in 1992, astronomers have wondered how many KBOs may be binaries, but it was generally assumed that the observations would be too difficult for most telescopes. However, the insights to be gained from study of binary KBOs would be significant: measuring binary orbits provides estimates of KBO masses, and mutual eclipses of the binary allow astronomers to determine individual sizes and densities. Assuming some fraction of KBOs should be binary -- just as has been discovered in the asteroid belt -- astronomers eventually began to search for gravitationally entwined pairs of KBOs. Then, finally, exactly a year ago on April 16, 2001, Veillet and collaborators announced the first discovery of a binary KBO: 1998 WW31. Since then, astronomers have reported the discoveries of six more binary KBOs. It's amazing that something that seems so hard to do and takes many years to accomplish can then trigger an avalanche of discoveries, says Veillet. Four of those discoveries were made with the Hubble Space Telescope: two were discovered with a program led by Michael Brown of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., and two more with a program led by Keith Noll of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. The sensitivity and resolution of Hubble is ideal for studying binary KBOs because the objects are so faint and so close together. The Kuiper Belt is one of the last big missing puzzle pieces to understanding the origin and evolution of our solar system and planetary systems around other stars. Dust disks seen around other stars could be replenished by collisions among Kuiper Belt-type objects, which seems to be common among stars. These collisions offer fundamental clues to the birth of planetary systems. -end- Electronic image files, animation, illustrations and additional information are available on the Internet at: http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pr/2002/04 http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/latest.html http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pictures.html http://hubblesite.org/go/news * * * __ Meteorite-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
