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Geography Of Pluto
The geography of Pluto refers to the study and mapping of physical features across the dwarf planet Pluto. On 14 July 2015, the ''New Horizons'' spacecraft became the first spacecraft to fly by Pluto. During its brief flyby, ''New Horizons'' made detailed geographical measurements and observations of Pluto and its moons. Coordinate system orientation Pluto may be defined as having retrograde rotation and an axial tilt of 60 degrees, or prograde rotation and a tilt of 120 degrees. Following the latter convention (the right-hand rule), the hemisphere currently in daylight is the northern one, with much of the southern hemisphere in darkness. This is the convention used by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and the ''New Horizons'' team, and their maps put the sunlit hemisphere on top. However, older sources may define Pluto's rotation as retrograde and therefore the sunlit side as the southern hemisphere. East and West are also swapped between the two conventions. The prim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pluto
Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Sun. It is the largest known trans-Neptunian object by volume by a small margin, but is less massive than Eris (dwarf planet), Eris. Like other Kuiper belt objects, Pluto is made primarily of ice and rock and is much smaller than the inner planets. Pluto has roughly one-sixth the mass of the Moon and one-third its volume. Originally considered a planet, its classification was changed when astronomers adopted a new definition of planet, definition of ''planet''. Pluto has a moderately Orbital eccentricity, eccentric and Inclination, inclined orbit, ranging from from the Sun. Light from the Sun takes 5.5 hours to reach Pluto at its orbital distance of . Pluto's eccentric orbit periodically brings it closer to the Sun than Neptune, but a stabl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clyde Tombaugh
Clyde William Tombaugh (; February 4, 1906 – January 17, 1997) was an American astronomer best known for discovering Pluto, the first object to be identified in what would later be recognized as the Kuiper belt, in 1930. Raised on farms in Illinois and Kansas, Tombaugh was largely self-taught in astronomy and optics, building his own telescopes before being hired by Lowell Observatory in Arizona. His meticulous photographic sky surveys led to the discovery of Pluto, which was at the time classified as the ninth planet in the Solar System. Tombaugh also discovered numerous asteroids, star clusters, and galaxies, and made significant contributions to planetary observation and instrumentation. As a professor at New Mexico State University, he directed the Planetary Patrol project that confirmed the daily rotation period of Mercury, studied the Great Red Spot on Jupiter, and developed new photographic techniques for satellite searches. After his retirement in 1973, Tomba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Sutton Harrington
Robert Sutton Harrington (October 21, 1942 – January 23, 1993) was an American astronomer who worked at the United States Naval Observatory (USNO). Harrington was born near Newport News, Virginia, Newport News, Virginia. His father was an archaeologist. He was married to Betty-Jean Maycock in 1976, with two daughters, Amy and Ann. Harrington worked at the USNO. Another astronomer there, James W. Christy, consulted with him after discovering bulges in the images of Pluto, which turned out to be Pluto's natural satellite, satellite Charon (moon), Charon. For this reason, some consider Harrington to be a co-discoverer of Charon, although Christy usually gets sole credit. By the laws of physics, it is easy to determine the mass of a binary system based on its orbital period, so Harrington was the first to calculate the mass of the Pluto-Charon system, which was lower than even the lowest previous estimates of Pluto's mass. For much of his career, he proposed the existence of a P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harrington Regio
Harrington Regio (formerly Balrog Macula) is the largest of the "Brass Knuckles", a series of equatorial dark regions on Pluto. It is the largest dark equatorial feature on Pluto after the Belton Regio, and is located in the middle of the leading hemisphere. It was initially informally named ''Balrog Macula'' after the balrogs, a race of demons in the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien. However, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) instead officially approved the name ''Harrington Regio'' after Robert Sutton Harrington, an American astronomer who is considered to have co-discovered Charon In Greek mythology, Charon or Kharon ( ; ) is a psychopomp, the ferryman of the Greek underworld. He carries the souls of those who have been given funeral rites across the rivers Acheron and Styx, which separate the worlds of the living and .... References {{crater-stub Geography of Pluto Regions of Pluto Surface features of Pluto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sharaf Regio
Sharaf Regio (formerly Ala Macula) is the smallest of the "Brass Knuckles", a series of equatorial dark regions on Pluto. It was initially informally named ''Ala Macula'' after Ala "earth", the chthonic and most important deity of the Igbo people. The International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ... (IAU) officially approved the name ''Sharaf Regio'' after Shafika Gil’mievna Sharaf, a Soviet astronomer who developed an analytical theory for Pluto's motion. References {{crater-stub Geography of Pluto Regions of Pluto Surface features of Pluto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Viktor Safronov
Viktor Sergeevich Safronov () (born Velikie Luki; 11 October 1917 in Russia – 18 September 1999 in Moscow, Russia) was a Soviet astronomer who put forward the low-mass-nebula model of planet formation, a consistent picture of how the planets formed from a disk of gas and dust around the Sun. Biography and legacy Safronov graduated from Moscow State University Department of Mechanics and Mathematics in 1941. He defended a dissertation for the Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences in 1968. His scientific interests covered planetary cosmogony, astrophysics and geophysics. His planetesimal hypothesis of planet formation is still widely accepted among astronomers, although alternative theories exist (such as the gravitational fragmentation of the protoplanetary disk directly into planets). A minor planet, 3615 Safronov, discovered by US-American astronomer Edward L. G. Bowell in 1983, is named after him, as is Safronov Regio on Pluto. (Center Latitude: -13.36°, Center ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Safronov Regio
Safronov Regio (formerly Krun Macula) is the westernmost of the "Brass Knuckles", a series of equatorial dark regions on Pluto. Observation and naming Safronov Regio was first observed as the ''New Horizons'' spacecraft approached Pluto and its system of moons. As Pluto rotated, a series of equatorial dark regions were observed and informally nicknamed the ''Brass Knuckles'', with Safronov Regio being the westermost of the dark regions. It was initially informally named ''Krun Macula'' after Krun, the greatest of the five Mandaean lords of the underworld. However, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) instead officially approved the name ''Safronov Regio'' in honor of Russian astronomer Viktor Safronov, an early proponent of the planetesimal hypothesis for Solar System formation. The name was approved on 22 September 2023. Description Safronov Regio is the third largest equatorial dark region on Pluto, after Belton Regio and Harrington Regio. It extends nearly to 180 d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States's civil list of government space agencies, space program, aeronautics research and outer space, space research. National Aeronautics and Space Act, Established in 1958, it succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to give the American space development effort a distinct civilian orientation, emphasizing peaceful applications in space science. It has since led most of America's space exploration programs, including Project Mercury, Project Gemini, the 1968–1972 Apollo program missions, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle. Currently, NASA supports the International Space Station (ISS) along with the Commercial Crew Program and oversees the development of the Orion (spacecraft), Orion spacecraft and the Sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brass Knuckles
Brass knuckles (also referred to as brass knucks, knuckledusters, iron fist and paperweight, among other names) are a melee weapon used primarily in Hand to hand combat, hand-to-hand combat. They are fitted and designed to be worn around the knuckles of the human hand. Despite their name, they are often made from other metals, plastics or carbon fibers and not necessarily brass. Designed to preserve and concentrate a Punch (strike), punch's force by directing it toward a Elasticity (physics), harder and Pascal's law, smaller contact area, they result in increased tissue (biology), tissue Blunt trauma, disruption, including an increased likelihood of Bone fracture, fracturing the intended target's bones on impact. The extended and rounded palm grip also spreads the Newton's third law of motion, counter-force across the attacker's palm, which would otherwise have been absorbed primarily by the attacker's fingers. This reduces the likelihood of damage to the attacker's fingers. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the west, and has Mexico-United States border, an international border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south and southwest. Texas has Texas Gulf Coast, a coastline on the Gulf of Mexico to the southeast. Covering and with over 31 million residents as of 2024, it is the second-largest state List of U.S. states and territories by area, by area and List of U.S. states and territories by population, population. Texas is nicknamed the ''Lone Star State'' for its former status as the independent Republic of Texas. Spain was the first European country to Spanish Texas, claim and control Texas. Following French colonization of Texas, a short-lived colony controlled by France, Mexico ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tenzing Montes
The Tenzing Montes (formerly Norgay Montes) are a range of icy mountains on Pluto, bordering the southwest region of Sputnik Planitia and the nearby Hillary Montes and Wright Mons. With peaks reaching in height, they are the highest mountain range on Pluto, and also the steepest, with a mean slope of 19.2 degrees. Naming The mountains, first viewed by the ''New Horizons'' spacecraft on 14 July 2015, and announced by NASA on 15 July 2015, are named after the Nepalese mountaineer Tenzing Norgay, who, along with Sir Edmund Hillary, made the first successful ascent of the highest peak on Earth, Mount Everest (29 May 1953). The mountains were informally called ''Norgay Montes'' by the ''New Horizons'' team, but that name was later changed from ''Norgay'' to ''Tenzing''.Both ''Tenzing'' and ''Norgay'' are given names, but ''Norgay'' is often mistaken for a surname. On 7 September 2017, the name ''Tenzing Montes'' was officially approved together with the names of Tombaugh Regio and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
