Hubble's Latest Look at Pluto's Moons Supports a Common Birth
Title
Hubble's Latest Look at Pluto's Moons Supports a Common Birth
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Object Name:
Pluto
Object_Name
Pluto
Object Name
Acknowledgement:
*Credit:* NASA [ http://www.nasa.gov/], ESA [ http://www.spacetel…], A. Stern (Southwest Research Institute), H. Weaver (Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Lab), and the HST Pluto Companion Search Team
Acknowledgement
*Credit:* NASA [ http://www.nasa.gov/], ESA [ http://www.spacetel…], A. Stern (Southwest Research Institute), H. Weaver (Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Lab), and the HST Pluto Companion Search Team
Acknowledgement
Fast Facts:
Technical facts about this news release:
About the Object Object Name: Pluto Object Description: Planet Distance: Although its orbit is highly eccentric, Pluto's average distance from the Sun is 39.44 Astronomical Units (A.U.) or roughly 3.6 billion miles (5.9 billion kilometers). Dimensions: Pluto has a diameter of roughly 1,416 miles (2,280 km) at the equator. About the Data Data Description: These HST data are from proposal 10774: H.A. Weaver (JHU/APL), S.A. Stern and J.R. Spencer (SwRI), M.W. Buie (Lowell Obs.), E. Young, L.A. Young, and A.J. Steffl (SwRI), M. Mutchler (STScI) and W.J. Merline (SwRI). Instrument: ACS/HRC Exposure Date(s): February 15 and March 2, 2006 Filters: F435W ("B") and F606W ("V") About the Image Image Credit: NASA, ESA, H. Weaver (JHU/APL), A. Stern (SwRI), and the HST Pluto Companion Search Team Release Date: March 10, 2006 Color Assignment: This image is black and white and represents the range of brightness recorded by the ACS/HRC camera. Orientation: Pluto System: March 2, 2006 [ http://imgsrc.hubbl…]
Fast_Facts
Technical facts about this news release:
About the Object Object Name: Pluto Object Description: Planet Distance: Although its orbit is highly eccentric, Pluto's average distance from the Sun is 39.44 Astronomical Units (A.U.) or roughly 3.6 billion miles (5.9 billion kilometers). Dimensions: Pluto has a diameter of roughly 1,416 miles (2,280 km) at the equator. About the Data Data Description: These HST data are from proposal 10774: H.A. Weaver (JHU/APL), S.A. Stern and J.R. Spencer (SwRI), M.W. Buie (Lowell Obs.), E. Young, L.A. Young, and A.J. Steffl (SwRI), M. Mutchler (STScI) and W.J. Merline (SwRI). Instrument: ACS/HRC Exposure Date(s): February 15 and March 2, 2006 Filters: F435W ("B") and F606W ("V") About the Image Image Credit: NASA, ESA, H. Weaver (JHU/APL), A. Stern (SwRI), and the HST Pluto Companion Search Team Release Date: March 10, 2006 Color Assignment: This image is black and white and represents the range of brightness recorded by the ACS/HRC camera. Orientation: Pluto System: March 2, 2006 [ http://imgsrc.hubbl…]
Fast Facts
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*Image Type:*: Astronomical
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*Image Type:*: Astronomical
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*Release Date*:March 10, 2006 09:00 AM (EST)
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*Release Date*:March 10, 2006 09:00 AM (EST)
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*Title*:Hubble's Latest Look at Pluto's Moons Supports a Common Birth
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*Title*:Hubble's Latest Look at Pluto's Moons Supports a Common Birth
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*News Release Number:*: STScI-2006-15d
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*News Release Number:*: STScI-2006-15d
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*Description*:
These NASA Hubble Space Telescope images of Pluto were taken on March 2, 2006, using the High Resolution Channel (HRC) of the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). The image on the left was taken through a blue filter (F435W), and the one on the right was taken through a red filter (F606W). By comparing these two images in detail, astronomers discovered that the surfaces of Pluto's two newly-discovered satellites (S/2005 P 1 and S/2005 P 2, or P1 and P2 for short) have essentially the same color as Charon's surface. All three satellites have surfaces that reflect sunlight with equal efficiency at all wavelengths, which means they have the same color as Earth's moon (in the absence of Earth's atmospheric effects which can alter the apparent color of our moon). In contrast, Pluto's surface has a reddish hue. The remarkable similarity in the colors of the satellites supports the idea that they were all created from material stripped from the surface layers of Pluto during the giant impact that created the entire system more than 4 billion years ago. (Note that the color schemes used to display the images are not meant to represent the colors of the objects. Rather, a blue intensity scale is used for the image taken through the F435W filter and a red intensity scale is used for the F606W image simply to highlight that the images were obtained through two different filters.)
note
*Description*:
These NASA Hubble Space Telescope images of Pluto were taken on March 2, 2006, using the High Resolution Channel (HRC) of the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). The image on the left was taken through a blue filter (F435W), and the one on the right was taken through a red filter (F606W). By comparing these two images in detail, astronomers discovered that the surfaces of Pluto's two newly-discovered satellites (S/2005 P 1 and S/2005 P 2, or P1 and P2 for short) have essentially the same color as Charon's surface. All three satellites have surfaces that reflect sunlight with equal efficiency at all wavelengths, which means they have the same color as Earth's moon (in the absence of Earth's atmospheric effects which can alter the apparent color of our moon). In contrast, Pluto's surface has a reddish hue. The remarkable similarity in the colors of the satellites supports the idea that they were all created from material stripped from the surface layers of Pluto during the giant impact that created the entire system more than 4 billion years ago. (Note that the color schemes used to display the images are not meant to represent the colors of the objects. Rather, a blue intensity scale is used for the image taken through the F435W filter and a red intensity scale is used for the F606W image simply to highlight that the images were obtained through two different filters.)
