NASA Scientist to Discuss "New Horizons: Journey to Pluto and Beyond" at Library of Congress Lecture
New Horizons scientists made this false color image
of Pluto using a technique called principal component analysis to
highlight the many subtle color differences between Pluto's distinct
regions. The image data were collected by the spacecraft’s Ralph/MVIC
color camera on July 14 at 11:11 AM UTC, from a range of 22,000 miles
(35,000 kilometers). This image was presented by Will Grundy of the New
Horizons’ surface composition team on Nov. 9 at the Division for
Planetary Sciences (DPS) meeting of the American Astronomical Society
(AAS) in National Harbor, Maryland.
Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI
Dennis Reuter, a New Horizons co-investigator from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is the instrument scientist for Ralph, the New Horizons color imager and infrared spectrometer. His talk will highlight the first close-up images of Pluto.
New Horizons has taken the first high-resolution views of the Pluto system, which represents an unexplored class of solar system bodies – small planets in the Kuiper Belt.
"Not only does Ralph allow us to ‘see’ things as if we ourselves were there, its infrared spectra will allow us to tell what specific molecules are on the surfaces of Pluto and its moons, how they are distributed, and what their environments are like," Reuter said.
"We've already seen how capable Ralph is from infrared and visible images taken of Jupiter in 2007 during the gravity assist maneuver that sped New Horizons to Pluto. The idea that planetary science will soon have that information for the Pluto system too is just remarkable!"
The Library of Congress maintains one of the largest and most diverse collections of scientific and technical information in the world. The Science, Technology and Business Division provides reference and bibliographic services and develops the general collections of the library in all areas of science, technology, business and economics. For more information, visit www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/.
The Library of Congress is the nation's oldest federal cultural institution and the largest library in the world and holds nearly 151.8 million items in various languages, disciplines and formats. The library serves Congress and the nation both on-site in its reading rooms on Capitol Hill and through its award-winning website at www.loc.gov.
For inquiries about this or upcoming talks at the Library of Congress, the public can contact the LOC Science, Technology and Business Division at 202-707-5664. ADA accommodations should be requested five business days in advance at 202-707-6382 (voice/tty) or ada@loc.gov.
The lecture will be later broadcast on the Library’s webcast page and YouTube channel “Topics in Science” playlist.
For more information about the New Horizons mission, visit:
For more information, visit:
For directions, visit:
Last Updated: Dec. 1, 2015
Editor: Ashley Morrow
No comments:
Post a Comment