Author Topic: Pluto Probe Spots Distant Dwarf Planet Quaoar  (Read 2740 times)

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Offline Ghost Bear

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Pluto Probe Spots Distant Dwarf Planet Quaoar
« on: September 01, 2016, 12:05:06 am »
Pluto Probe Spots Distant Dwarf Planet Quaoar

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has photographed a distant dwarf planet cruising through the dark depths of the outer solar system.

New Horizons captured images of the mysterious, 690-mile-wide (1,110 kilometers) Quaoar at four different times on July 13 and July 14 — exactly one year after the probe's historic July 14, 2015, flyby of Pluto.

New Horizons was 1.3 billion miles (2.1 billion km) from Quaoar when it took the photos with its Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) camera, so the dwarf planet is not sharply resolved. But even such fuzzy views have scientific value, NASA officials said.

(snip)

Quaoar (pronounced kwa-whar) was discovered in 2002 and has not officially been designated a dwarf planet, but it almost certainly qualifies, researchers have said. Dwarf planets need to be massive enough to be shaped into a sphere by their own gravity; with a diameter of 690 miles, Quaoar is larger than the officially recognized dwarf planet Ceres.

Quaoar lies an average of 43 astronomical units (AU) from the sun and completes one lap around the star every 286 Earth years. (One AU is the average distance from Earth to the sun — about 93 million miles, or 150 million km.) The object has one known moon.

(snip)

As the Quaoar observations show, New Horizons' work did not end with the Pluto encounter. On Jan. 1, 2019, the probe will fly by an object called 2014 MU69, which lies about 1 billion miles (1.6 billion km) beyond Pluto.

(snip)

More, including photos, at the link: http://www.space.com/33921-dwarf-planet-quaoar-new-horizons-photos.html
Let it burn.

Oceander

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Re: Pluto Probe Spots Distant Dwarf Planet Quaoar
« Reply #1 on: September 01, 2016, 01:29:30 am »
Sounds like somebody named that poor planet in a fit of drunken celebration.

Offline Cripplecreek

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Re: Pluto Probe Spots Distant Dwarf Planet Quaoar
« Reply #2 on: September 01, 2016, 01:41:09 am »
Its cold out there.

geronl

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Re: Pluto Probe Spots Distant Dwarf Planet Quaoar
« Reply #3 on: September 01, 2016, 02:18:05 am »
Those probes run on Energizer

Offline Gefn

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Re: Pluto Probe Spots Distant Dwarf Planet Quaoar
« Reply #4 on: September 06, 2016, 11:49:00 am »
Its cold out there.

Sounds like the opening to the Red Dwarf theme song.

But yes, it's mighty cold out there. But oh how lucky our grandchildren and great grandchildren will be to travel among the stars.
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Offline Gefn

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Re: Pluto Probe Spots Distant Dwarf Planet Quaoar
« Reply #5 on: September 06, 2016, 11:53:11 am »
Oh I googled the name "Quaoar".

It means "creation force" by the Native American Tonga tribe from the Los Angeles basin in Southern California.

(Google)

For @Oceander
« Last Edit: September 06, 2016, 11:54:27 am by Freya »
G-d bless America. G-d bless us all                                 

Adopt a puppy or kitty from your local shelter
Or an older dog or cat. They're true love❤️

Offline Smokin Joe

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Re: Pluto Probe Spots Distant Dwarf Planet Quaoar
« Reply #6 on: September 06, 2016, 12:06:01 pm »
Oh I googled the name "Quaoar".

It means "creation force" by the Native American Tonga tribe from the Los Angeles basin in Southern California.

(Google)

For @Oceander
Thanks, @Freya, you saved me a few keystrokes!
How God must weep at humans' folly! Stand fast! God knows what he is doing!
Seventeen Techniques for Truth Suppression

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

C S Lewis

Offline Smokin Joe

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Re: Pluto Probe Spots Distant Dwarf Planet Quaoar
« Reply #7 on: September 06, 2016, 12:06:52 pm »
How God must weep at humans' folly! Stand fast! God knows what he is doing!
Seventeen Techniques for Truth Suppression

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

C S Lewis