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Collection:
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NASA Solarsystem Collection
Collection
NASA Solarsystem Collection
Collection
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title:
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Capturing Callisto
title
Capturing Callisto
title
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description:
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The New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) captured these two images of Jupiter's outermost large moon, Callisto, as the spacecraft flew past Jupiter in late February. New Horizons' closest approach distance to Jupiter was 2.3 million kilometers (1.4 million miles), not far outside Callisto's orbit, which has a radius of 1.9 million kilometers (1.2 million miles). However, Callisto happened to be on the opposite side of Jupiter during the spacecraft's pass through the Jupiter system, so these images, taken from 4.7 million kilometers (3.0 million miles) and 4.2 million kilometers (2.6 million miles) away, are the closest of Callisto that New Horizons obtained.
Callisto's ancient, crater-scarred surface makes it very different from its three more active sibling satellites, Io, Europa and Ganymede. Callisto, 4,800 kilometers (3000 miles) in diameter, displays no large-scale geological features other than impact craters, and every bright spot in these images is a crater. The largest impact feature on Callisto, the huge basin Valhalla, is visible as a bright patch at the 10 o'clock position. The craters are bright because they have excavated material relatively rich in water ice from beneath the dark, dusty material that coats most of the surface.
The two images show essentially the same side of Callisto - the side that faces Jupiter - under different illumination conditions. The images accompanied scans of Callisto's infrared spectrum with New Horizons' Linear Etalon Imaging Spectral Array (LEISA). The New Horizons science team designed these scans to study how the infrared spectrum of Callisto's water ice changes as lighting and viewing conditions change, and as the ice cools through Callisto's late afternoon. The infrared spectrum of water ice depends slightly on its temperature, and a goal of New Horizons when it reaches the Pluto system (in 2015) is to use the water ice features in the spectrum of Pluto's moon Charon, and perhaps on Pluto itself, to measure surface temperature. Callisto provided an ideal opportunity to test this technique on a much better-known body.
The left image, taken at 05:03 Universal Time on February 27, 2007, is centered at 5 degrees south, 5 degrees west, and has a solar phase angle of 46 degrees. The right image was taken at 03:25 Universal Time on February 28, 2007. It is centered at 4 degrees south, 356 degrees west, and has a solar phase angle of 76 degrees.
Released: April 5, 2007
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute
description
The New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) captured these two images of Jupiter's outermost large moon, Callisto, as the spacecraft flew past Jupiter in late February. New Horizons' closest approach distance to Jupiter was 2.3 million kilometers (1.4 million miles), not far outside Callisto's orbit, which has a radius of 1.9 million kilometers (1.2 million miles). However, Callisto happened to be on the opposite side of Jupiter during the spacecraft's pass through the Jupiter system, so these images, taken from 4.7 million kilometers (3.0 million miles) and 4.2 million kilometers (2.6 million miles) away, are the closest of Callisto that New Horizons obtained.
Callisto's ancient, crater-scarred surface makes it very different from its three more active sibling satellites, Io, Europa and Ganymede. Callisto, 4,800 kilometers (3000 miles) in diameter, displays no large-scale geological features other than impact craters, and every bright spot in these images is a crater. The largest impact feature on Callisto, the huge basin Valhalla, is visible as a bright patch at the 10 o'clock position. The craters are bright because they have excavated material relatively rich in water ice from beneath the dark, dusty material that coats most of the surface.
The two images show essentially the same side of Callisto - the side that faces Jupiter - under different illumination conditions. The images accompanied scans of Callisto's infrared spectrum with New Horizons' Linear Etalon Imaging Spectral Array (LEISA). The New Horizons science team designed these scans to study how the infrared spectrum of Callisto's water ice changes as lighting and viewing conditions change, and as the ice cools through Callisto's late afternoon. The infrared spectrum of water ice depends slightly on its temperature, and a goal of New Horizons when it reaches the Pluto system (in 2015) is to use the water ice features in the spectrum of Pluto's moon Charon, and perhaps on Pluto itself, to measure surface temperature. Callisto provided an ideal opportunity to test this technique on a much better-known body.
The left image, taken at 05:03 Universal Time on February 27, 2007, is centered at 5 degrees south, 5 degrees west, and has a solar phase angle of 46 degrees. The right image was taken at 03:25 Universal Time on February 28, 2007. It is centered at 4 degrees south, 356 degrees west, and has a solar phase angle of 76 degrees.
Released: April 5, 2007
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute
description
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date:
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02.27.2007
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keywords:
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Solar System Exploration
keywords
Solar System Exploration
keywords
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keywords:
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SSE
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keywords:
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Space
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keywords:
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NASA
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keywords:
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National Aeronautics and Space Administration
keywords
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
keywords
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keywords:
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JPL
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keywords:
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Jet Propulsion Laboratory
keywords
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
keywords
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keywords:
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Planets
keywords
Planets
keywords
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facet_what:
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Crater
facet_what
Crater
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Opportunity
facet_what
Opportunity
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Moon
facet_what
Moon
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Jupiter
facet_what
Jupiter
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Pluto
facet_what
Pluto
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Charon
facet_what
Charon
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Imager
facet_what
Imager
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Io
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facet_what:
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LEISA
facet_what
LEISA
facet_what
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facet_what:
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New Horizons
facet_what
New Horizons
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Callisto
facet_what
Callisto
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Europa
facet_what
Europa
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Ganymede
facet_what
Ganymede
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Long Range Reconnaissance Imager
facet_what
Long Range Reconnaissance Imager
facet_what
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facet_what:
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LORRI
facet_what
LORRI
facet_what
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facet_where:
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Jet Propulsion Laboratory
facet_where
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Jupiter
facet_where
Jupiter
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Pluto
facet_where
Pluto
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Charon
facet_where
Charon
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Callisto
facet_where
Callisto
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Europa
facet_where
Europa
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Ganymede
facet_where
Ganymede
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_where
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_where
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facet_when:
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February 28, 2007
facet_when
February 28, 2007
facet_when
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facet_when:
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February 27, 2007
facet_when
February 27, 2007
facet_when
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facet_when:
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2015
facet_when
2015
facet_when
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facet_when:
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April 5, 2007
facet_when
April 5, 2007
facet_when
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facet_when:
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02-27-2007
facet_when
02-27-2007
facet_when
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facet_when_year:
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2007
facet_when_year
2007
facet_when_year
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facet_when_year:
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2015
facet_when_year
2015
facet_when_year
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UID:
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SPD-SLRSY-5323
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original url:
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original_url
original url
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