Seen from #Nix, there can be little doubt that #Pluto and #Charon are in fact a binary planet.
This is a digital simulation I generated with Celestia 1.6.1 and overlaid New Horizons shots for our book "Pluto & Charon", published this month. I have released its English translation today, and it can be ordered from here: https://www.amazon.com/Pluto-Charon-Horizons-…/…/ref=sr_1_3…
Contents
Preface by Dr Rainer Riemann, University of Heidelberg
1 Nine years of approach
1.1 At the garden door (6 Dec 2014 - 10 Mar 2015)
1.2 Course set - ignition! (10 March 2015)
1.3 Approach phase 2 (5 April 2015)
1.4 Approach phase 3 (24 June - 7 July)
1.5 The last week of flying time (7 to 13 July)
2 Tombaugh’s bowl of ice
2.1 A heart for Pluto
2.2 Skating on the Sputnik Planum
2.3 A young sea, a young moon
2.4 The extending atmosphere
2.5 Hydra lifting heads
3 Eighty years of misconceptions
3.1 From the Grand Tour to New Horizons: The long march to Pluto
4 Down on the surface
4.1 Basin and coasts of the Sputnik Planum
4.2 East of the Tombaugh Regio
4.3 A Washboard and other clefts
4.4 The distant regions on the mainland
5 What is Pluto made of ?
5.1 Pluto’s volatile ices
5.2 Water: The solid bedrock of Pluto
5.3 Play of colours
5.4 Light and dark
6 Sky and Weather
6.1 And now, the weather report
6.2 Poisonous gas in the Atmosphere
6.3 High fog expected
6.4 Weak or moderate winds
6.5 Who has dyed Charon?
7 Charon: the dichotomous moon
7.1 What is Charon made of
7.2 Dissimilar twins
8 Nix that photo: the minor moons
9 And on to PT1
9.1 A new target
9.2 19 January 2016: 10 years of flying time!
9.3 Will there be an Extended Mission?
Appendix: Technical Data
References
1 Nine years of approach
1.1 At the garden door (6 Dec 2014 - 10 Mar 2015)
1.2 Course set - ignition! (10 March 2015)
1.3 Approach phase 2 (5 April 2015)
1.4 Approach phase 3 (24 June - 7 July)
1.5 The last week of flying time (7 to 13 July)
2 Tombaugh’s bowl of ice
2.1 A heart for Pluto
2.2 Skating on the Sputnik Planum
2.3 A young sea, a young moon
2.4 The extending atmosphere
2.5 Hydra lifting heads
3 Eighty years of misconceptions
3.1 From the Grand Tour to New Horizons: The long march to Pluto
4 Down on the surface
4.1 Basin and coasts of the Sputnik Planum
4.2 East of the Tombaugh Regio
4.3 A Washboard and other clefts
4.4 The distant regions on the mainland
5 What is Pluto made of ?
5.1 Pluto’s volatile ices
5.2 Water: The solid bedrock of Pluto
5.3 Play of colours
5.4 Light and dark
6 Sky and Weather
6.1 And now, the weather report
6.2 Poisonous gas in the Atmosphere
6.3 High fog expected
6.4 Weak or moderate winds
6.5 Who has dyed Charon?
7 Charon: the dichotomous moon
7.1 What is Charon made of
7.2 Dissimilar twins
8 Nix that photo: the minor moons
9 And on to PT1
9.1 A new target
9.2 19 January 2016: 10 years of flying time!
9.3 Will there be an Extended Mission?
Appendix: Technical Data
References
