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What Are We Learning About Pluto?
On December 20, 2011, we received information that scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope have discovered a strong ultraviolet-wavelength absorber providing new evidence that there is complex hydrocarbon and/or nitrile molecules lying on the surface of Pluto. We’re not sure what this all means but it might be important. Last July a report came out from NASA that astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope had discovered a fourth moon orbiting Pluto. The new moon is the smallest one discovered around Pluto and is only about 8 to 21 miles in diameter as compared to Pluto’s largest moon which is said to be 648 miles across. And just two years ago, the Hubble Space Telescope revealed the sharpest images yet of this dwarf planet. There were areas of white, dark orange and charcoal gray on the surface and what was learned was that Pluto as much more dynamic than previously thought. At present, the New Horizons spacecraft is approaching Pluto and is expected to reach its destination in 2015. When this flyby of the planet takes place, we should be able to learn quite a bit more about this distant world.
Image Advisories
1. NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has sent back the first images of the giant asteroid Vesta. The images show the stippled and lumpy surface of the asteroid in detail as never seen before. To see the images, go to the JPL/NASA News release of Dec. 21, 2011 at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-391
2. Combined observations from the European Space Agency’s Herschel Space Observatory and NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope reveal the cold dust that builds new stars. The new images map the dust in the galaxies known as the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, two of the closest galaxies to our own Milky Way. To get the whole report with accompanying images, go to the NASA/JPL News release of January 10, 2012 found at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-006
3. A new, large mosaic from NASA’s Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) space telescope shows a vast stretch of cosmic clouds bubbling with new star birth. The region is home to numerous star-forming clouds, where massive stars have blown out bubbles in the gas and dust. To see the new image online, go to: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/WISE/multimedia/pia15256.html - NASA News - January 10, 2012.
4. New images from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft cover the birth and evolution of the colossal storm that has gone on over the northern face of Saturn for nearly a year. To see these images, visit The Saturn Storm Chronicles at: http://www.ciclops.org/view_event/165/The_Saturn_Storm_Chronicles
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