pluto charon (large moon) max mutchler research & instrument scientist space telescope science...
TRANSCRIPT
![Page 1: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Pluto
Charon (large moon)
Max Mutchler Research & Instrument ScientistSpace Telescope Science Institute
Hubble Science Briefing6 December 2012
The discovery of four small moons of Pluto with the Hubble Space Telescope
Credit: NASA, ESA and G. Bacon (STScI)Credit: NASA, ESA and G. Bacon (STScI)
![Page 2: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
American Museum of Natural History
““ Hey Dad, where is Pluto?Hey Dad, where is Pluto?””
22
![Page 3: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
The IAU therefore resolves that planets and other bodies in our Solar System, except satellites, be defined into three distinct categories in the following way:
(1) A “planet” is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.
(2) A “dwarf planet” is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, (c) has not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit, and (d) is not a satellite.
(3) All other objects, except satellites, orbiting the Sun shall be referred to collectively as “Small Solar System Bodies”.
Pluto is a "dwarf planet" by the above definition and is recognized as the prototype of a new category of trans-Neptunian objects. For now, Charon is considered just to be Pluto’s moon. The idea that Charon might qualify to be called a dwarf planet on its own, may be considered later.
http://www.iau2006.orgFinal Resolution for GA-XXVI: Definition of a Planet24 August 2006
33
![Page 4: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
Ceres
Asteroid Belt Kuiper Belt Discovered 1801-1851 Discovered in 1992
44credit: A. Feild (STScI)
![Page 5: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
“It’s like, since being kicked out of the planet gang, Pluto decided to form a rival Solar System. Good on Pluto, I say.”
-- comic Dean Burnett
55http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/13/science/space/astronomers-spot-fifth-moon-orbiting-pluto.html
![Page 6: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
Galileo’s telescopic discovery of Jupiter’s moons
66
![Page 7: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
Hubble Space Telescope
77
![Page 8: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
Hubble Servicing Mission 1 December 1993
Wide Field Planetary Camera 2
88
![Page 9: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
The Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) The Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) was installed in 2002…and failed in 2007was installed in 2002…and failed in 2007
99
![Page 10: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3): installed 2009 Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3): installed 2009
1010
![Page 11: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
Hubble Servicing Mission 411 May 2009
1111
![Page 12: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
5 days ofspacewalking
1212
![Page 13: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
Goddard Spaceflight Center…16-hour shift during the ACS repair and first tests!
1313
![Page 14: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
Hubble image
calibrationand reduction
rawraw
calibrated combined
corrected
1414
![Page 15: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
Recognizing and characterizing the many instrument artifacts (and not being fooled by them)
An optical “ghost” (not a moon) in Hubble imaging of asteroid Lutetia (in support of the Rosetta mission)
1515
![Page 16: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
The discovery of Pluto in 1930
ClydeTombaugh
1616
![Page 17: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
Blink-comparator that Tombaugh used to compare two images,discovering Pluto by its motion:
basically the same method we still use…
1717
![Page 18: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
Pluto discovery images
1818
![Page 19: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
Pluto discovery images
1919
![Page 20: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/20.jpg)
The discovery of Pluto’s moon Charon in 1978(which required some imagination)
James Christy & Robert Harrington
U.S. Naval ObservatoryWashington, D.C.
2020
![Page 21: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/21.jpg)
Jim Christy
Annette and Patsy TombaughAnnette and Patsy Tombaugh
Jim Christy Jim Christy
New HorizonsNew Horizons launch launch19 January 200619 January 2006
2121
![Page 22: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/22.jpg)
Hubble images reveal two new moons of Pluto
Pluto on 15 Feb 20062222
![Page 23: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/23.jpg)
Nix and Hydra discovery observations
• Wide Field covers entire orbital stability zone, but all the action is very close to Pluto
• Pluto and Charon near chip gap for initial discovery of Nix and Hydra: peek-a-boo!
2323
![Page 24: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/24.jpg)
Pluto on 15 May 2005
Nix and Hydra discovery observations
2424
![Page 25: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/25.jpg)
Hydra
Nix
Nix and Hydra discovery observations
2525
Pluto on 15 May 2005
![Page 26: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/26.jpg)
Hydra
Nix
Nix and Hydra discovery observations
2626
Pluto on 18 May 2005
![Page 27: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/27.jpg)
Hydra
Charon
Nix
Pluto on 15 and 18 May 2005
Nix and Hydra discovery observations
2727
![Page 28: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/28.jpg)
Nix and Hydra pre-discovery observations in 2002…
…it’s much easier to find them once you know exactly where to look
2828
![Page 29: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/29.jpg)
Discovery of two new satellites of PlutoH. A. Weaver, S. A. Stern, M. J. Mutchler, A. J. Steffl, M. W. Buie, W. J. Merline, J. R. Spencer, E. F. Young and L. A. YoungNature 439, 943-945 (23 February 2006)
Pluto's first known satellite, Charon, was discovered1 in 1978. It has a diameter (1,200 km) about half that of Pluto, which makes it larger, relative to its primary, than any other moon in the Solar System. Previous searches for other satellites around Pluto have been unsuccessful, but they were not sensitive to objects 150 km in diameter and there are no fundamental reasons why Pluto should not have more satellites6.
Here we report the discovery of two additional moons around Pluto, provisionally designated S/2005 P 1 (hereafter P1) and S/2005 P 2 (hereafter P2), which makes Pluto the first Kuiper belt object known to have multiple satellites. These new satellites are much smaller than Charon, with estimates of P1's diameter ranging from 60 km to 165 km, depending on the surface reflectivity; P2 is about 20 per cent smaller than P1. Although definitive orbits cannot be derived, both new satellites appear to be moving in circular orbits in the same orbital plane as Charon, with orbital periods of 38 days (P1) and 25 days (P2).
2929
![Page 30: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/30.jpg)
Hubble images reveal Hubble images reveal two two moremore moons of Pluto moons of Pluto
3030
![Page 31: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/31.jpg)
4 Pluto moons discovered by Hubble since 2005
3131
![Page 32: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/32.jpg)
Pluto's P4 and P5: Latest Results for Pluto's Tiniest Moons
Showalter, Mark R.; Weaver, H. A.; Stern, A.; Steffl, A. J.; Hamilton, D. P.; Buie, M. W.; Merline, W. J.; Young, L. A.; Mutchler, M.; Soummer, R.; Throop, H. B. American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting 44, 304.07
We report on the discovery and subsequent analyses of "P4" and "P5", Pluto's fourth and fifth known moons (officially designated S/2011 (134340) 1 and S/2012 (134340) 1).
P4 was discovered in Hubble Space Telescope images from June-July 2011. Numerous pre-discovery detections have now been identified in the Hubble archive, spanning 2005-2011. These detections provide a long time baseline for determining the body's orbital elements. Based on a preliminary analysis, P4 has an orbital period P = 32.17 ± 0.01 days, placing it at a semimajor axis a 59,500 km, between the orbits of Nix and Hydra. It appears to fit the general trend of orbital elements in the Pluto system, with Nix near the 1:4 mean motion resonance with Charon, P4 near the 1:5, and Hydra near the 1:6. The size of P4 depends on the assumed geometric albedo: diameter = 14 km if its albedo 0.35, comparable to that of Charon, or 40 km if it has a much darker albedo 0.04, which would be more typical of other Trans-Neptunian Objects.
P5 was discovered in Hubble images from June-July 2012 and is roughly half as bright as P4. It orbits interior to Nix with P = 20.2 ± 0.1 days or a 42,000 km, raising the possibility of an association with Charon's 1:3 resonance. This configuration of five moons in co-planar, near-circular, near-resonant orbits suggests that the bodies formed in place and/or have undergone significant orbital evolution. We will also report on the search for faint rings and additional moons.
3232
![Page 33: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/33.jpg)
Big collisions in the early Solar System:
• Earth-Moon formation
• Pluto and moons
3333©Don Davis
![Page 34: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/34.jpg)
Could there be any hazards for the New Horizons spacecraft when it flies through the Pluto system on 14 July 2015?
The discovery of additional small moons has raised concerns about the possibility of rings or other debris structures in the Pluto system that can pose hazards to New Horizons. Even a millimeter-sized pebble’s impact at New Horizons’ flyby speed – about 14 kilometers per second, or more than 31,300 miles per hour – could seriously damage the spacecraft. Credit: NASA/ESA/A. Feild (STScI)/Sky & Telescope
3434
![Page 35: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/35.jpg)
Where is the New Horizons
spacecraft now?
3535credit: NASA/New Horizons
![Page 36: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/36.jpg)
New Horizons
Pluto: waiting for its spaceship to come in (July 2015) Maybe then we’ll be better able to define the word “planet”!
3636
credit: JHUAPL/SwRI
![Page 37: Pluto Charon (large moon) Max Mutchler Research & Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Hubble Science Briefing 6 December 2012 The discovery](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062712/56649c765503460f9492aa7f/html5/thumbnails/37.jpg)
Hubble Science Briefing Professional Development Telecon, 12/6/12
Pluto has not easily given up its secrets since being discovered in 1930, and the slow progress in understanding this small icy world has fueled endless debate over whether it should be considered a planet. While the presence of moons is not one of the criteria used to classify whether it is a planet, the discovery of the large moon Charon in 1978 and four smaller moons discovered by Hubble since 2005 have helped to further characterize the surprisingly complex Pluto system. The Hubble observations are also helping the New Horizons mission plan their flyby of Pluto in July 2015, which will dramatically lift the veil on 85 years of mystery.
Max Mutchler has been working on the Hubble Space Telescope for its entire mission, now over 22 years. He is a Research and Instrument Scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Md., and is currently focused on managing a group of 35 analysts and scientists. Max is an expert on Hubble’s cameras, and is a member of the Hubble Heritage team, which has produced many of the iconic images for which Hubble is famous. He also specializes in Hubble observations of Solar System objects, often in support of planetary missions such as New Horizons (en route to Pluto) and Dawn (currently exploring the Asteroid Belt). He is a member of the team that has discovered several new moons of Pluto, including one last July. Asteroid “6815 Mutchler” was named in honor of Max’s role in these discoveries.
3737