이전에 소개한 대로 뉴호라이즌스호는 상당히 느린 속도로 49억km 떨어진 지점에서 계속해서 데이터를 보내주고 있습니다. 나사는 이를 일주일 단위로 계속 대중에게 공개하고 있습니다. 가장 최근에 공개된 이미지는 태양을 등진 명왕성의 이미지로 안개같은 대기의 층과 환상적인 명왕성의 얼음산의 이미지가 찍혀 있습니다.
(Pluto’s Majestic Mountains, Frozen Plains and Foggy Hazes: Just 15 minutes after its closest approach to Pluto on July 14, 2015, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft looked back toward the sun and captured this near-sunset view of the rugged, icy mountains and flat ice plains extending to Pluto’s horizon. The smooth expanse of the informally named icy plain Sputnik Planum (right) is flanked to the west (left) by rugged mountains up to 11,000 feet (3,500 meters) high, including the informally named Norgay Montes in the foreground and Hillary Montes on the skyline. To the right, east of Sputnik, rougher terrain is cut by apparent glaciers. The backlighting highlights over a dozen layers of haze in Pluto’s tenuous but distended atmosphere. The image was taken from a distance of 11,000 miles (18,000 kilometers) to Pluto; the scene is 780 miles (1,250 kilometers) wide.
Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI)
(Closer Look: Majestic Mountains and Frozen Plains: Just 15 minutes after its closest approach to Pluto on July 14, 2015, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft looked back toward the sun and captured this near-sunset view of the rugged, icy mountains and flat ice plains extending to Pluto’s horizon. The smooth expanse of the informally named Sputnik Planum (right) is flanked to the west (left) by rugged mountains up to 11,000 feet (3,500 meters) high, including the informally named Norgay Montes in the foreground and Hillary Montes on the skyline. The backlighting highlights more than a dozen layers of haze in Pluto’s tenuous but distended atmosphere. The image was taken from a distance of 11,000 miles (18,000 kilometers) to Pluto; the scene is 230 miles (380 kilometers) across.
Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI))
(Near-Surface Haze or Fog on Pluto: In this small section of the larger crescent image of Pluto, taken by NASA’s New Horizons just 15 minutes after the spacecraft’s closest approach on July 14, 2015, the setting sun illuminates a fog or near-surface haze, which is cut by the parallel shadows of many local hills and small mountains. The image was taken from a distance of 11,000 miles (18,000 kilometers), and the width of the image is 115 miles (185 kilometers).
Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI)
이와 동시에 과학자들은 뉴호라이즌이 보내온 이미지에서 질소의 얼음으로 된 빙하가 계곡에서 흘러내려 스푸트니크 평원이라고 명명된 지역으로 흘러들어가는 것 같은 상황을 포착했습니다. 이는 전혀 예상하지 못했던 것으로써 앞으로 흥미로운 연구 대상이 될 것 같습니다.
(Pluto’s ‘Heart’: Sputnik Planum is the informal name of the smooth, light-bulb shaped region on the left of this composite of several New Horizons images of Pluto. The brilliantly white upland region to the right may be coated by nitrogen ice that has been transported through the atmosphere from the surface of Sputnik Planum, and deposited on these uplands. The box shows the location of the glacier detail images below.
Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI)
(Valley Glaciers on Pluto: Ice (probably frozen nitrogen) that appears to have accumulated on the uplands on the right side of this 390-mile (630-kilometer) wide image is draining from Pluto’s mountains onto the informally named Sputnik Planum through the 2- to 5-mile (3- to 8- kilometer) wide valleys indicated by the red arrows. The flow front of the ice moving into Sputnik Planum is outlined by the blue arrows. The origin of the ridges and pits on the right side of the image remains uncertain.
Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI)
이런 빙하의 흐름은 사실 지구를 제외하면 태양계에서 쉽게 발견하기 어렵습니다. 사실 과학자들은 이렇게 선명한 빙하의 이미지를 관측하게 될지 예상하지 못했다고 합니다. 명왕성에 대한 연구는 이제가 시작입니다. 왜 이 작은 얼음천체가 이렇게 다채로운 모습을 하게 되었는지 머지 않아 비밀이 풀리게 될 것으로 기대합니다.
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