Images of Pluto and Charon continue to captivate Nasa: 'This world is alive'

Sounds quite interesting. Does someone know the time of the announcement and have a link to view it? Thanks!

www.journaldemontreal.com...

Not on the NASA site about news today. Well, I could not see it anyway Not a good sign.

originally posted by: Jay-morris
Not on the NASA site about news today. Well, I could not see it anyway

Not a good sign.

It's still early.

What are the chances they have found a blurry colonized base?

a reply to: angryhulk

II am thinking something to do with water under the surface, if that's possible

a reply to: Lucidparadox
It isn't the signal speed but the processing speed of your game.

S&F OP!

Really interesting article. Can't wait for the announcement. Manned mission to Pluto anyone?

a reply to: boymonkey74

You see, it was just a false rumour

A good case can be made for the reddish color found on Pluto, and most notably on its moon Charon, as being due to the rather broad category of tholins, discovered in the lab by Carl Sagan, years ago.
These are a very complex mix of organic compounds, produced from abundant simple elements by various forms of electromagnetic radiation and energetic particles. These substances appear likely to be concerned in the origins of life on our planet.
Tholins on Pluto and Charon could be the basis of today's announcement. The linked article, below, gives more details on tholins in planetary science:
www.planetary.org...

a reply to: Ross 54

Seems reasonable, logical and simple.

a reply to: Ross 54

Don't suppose you know what time this announcement is due, do you? I've been refreshing various web pages all day

Looks like iron oxide or salts creating the reddish hue. Part of me wants this to be red algea so bad however because that would just be so cool! Alien algea respirering in a alien atmosphere!



a reply to: Lucidparadox

originally posted by: Lucidparadox
How long does it take for the data for these images to be sent from all the way out on the edge of our solar system and make its way here?

What type of signal to they use that can cover that type of distance?

How is the signal they use that travels that distance able to transmit such hi-res photos?

There's a separate thread on that topic:

Alert -- Pluto Science Data/Image Return to be Slow
That says it will take about a year to send all the data back.

a reply to: Arbitrageur

I wouldnt be sad if it took longer so you can have a cleaner picture, dont haste it.

Well... The article linked below seems to indicate that today's announcement won't be so amazing after all. This from the NASA scientist whose remarks started the hubbub, after they were seemingly exaggerated by the media.

This will apparently be the usual weekly release of new images of Pluto, which in their way are all pretty intriguing. Checked the JPL Photojournal site. Nothing new on Pluto so far. New images are usually presented in the forenoon, California time, so should appear soon.
www.ibtimes.co.uk...

a reply to: Ross 54

I read an article concerning blue skies and surface water on Pluto a while ago, is that your announcement?

Nasa Announcement

Yes, that was apparently the announcement, which was blown up out of proportion, somewhere along the line. I don't think it too surprising that water ice should be found on Pluto. Below a certain temperature it becomes so hard, it's as durable as granite is on Earth. They found water ice on Saturn's largest moon Titan, in a similar condition.

It's interesting, too, that tiny Pluto has enough gravity to hold onto a visible atmosphere. The very low solar energy at Pluto's distance from the Sun presumably means far less erosion of the atmosphere than in our own part of the solar system.

originally posted by: Ross 54
Yes, that was apparently the announcement, which was blown up out of proportion, somewhere along the line.

Science being science, every new discovery of water ice where it had never been observed directly before, is a major science news. I'd agree that such news of finding water resonates with the idea that water is a vital component of life, and that every discovery of water on such and such body could potentially mean the presence of life. On the other hand, the excitement could be purely due to the advancement of studying such remote places and getting a better and fuller picture of them.

I can kinda agree with the general sentiment of "we've known this for a long time already", but at the same time I'm also excited for these specific discoveries (based on the venerable scientific method), because they give us a proper, measured and analysed, view into the further reaches of the Solar System.

I'm captivated by images from Pluto and Charon, but I don't find them any more exiting than pictures of other planets.

The thing is though, we have had pictures of most of the other planets drilled into us for years, it is only now we get to see Pluto and Charon up close, so it's new.

Personally, I find more interest in the moons orbiting other planets, Titan for example.

Reminds me of the red weed from war of the worlds