"Video" rotation of Charon and Pluto of the photos from the New Horizons Bashny.Net

Astronomers have made an animation sequence of rotation of Charon and Pluto from photos sent Space Station New Horizons. Photos device makes using the tool LORRI (Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager), and those images in question were obtained for the period from 25 to 31 January. At this time, the station took stage optical navigation (OpNav), that is, trying to aim for Pluto as accurately as possible. It is worth recalling that the rapprochement with Pluto and its moons happen five 14 July 2015.

During the period from 25 to 31 January in the системе passed local day , which here last 6 4 Earth days. The first image in this series were obtained when the «New Horizons» was at a distance of 4, 8 billion miles from Earth, and only at a distance of 200 million kilometers from Pluto. The last frame of the device has received when he was already at 8 million kilometers closer to the system.



Interestingly, the animation clearly shows the fluctuations of Pluto, Charon during rotation. The reason for that - the gravitational effect Charon, whose mass is only 8 times smaller than Pluto. The satellite is on Pluto's surface at a distance of approximately 18,000 kilometers, with Pluto and Charon always turned to each other the same side.

The resulting images help plant more accurately determine the position of Pluto with Charon, for maneuvering closer to the planetoids. Scientists hope that the images of the dwarf planet and its satellites help scientists get more information about these objects. At the time of data about Pluto, Charon, and especially on very little information, not to mention the other moons of Pluto.

Source: geektimes.ru/post/245856/