[meteorite-list] Pluto's 'Halo' Craters

[Ron Baalke via Meteorite-list]

http://www.nasa.gov/feature/pluto-s-halo-craters

Pluto's 'Halo' Craters
April 21, 2016

Within Pluto's informally named Vega Terra region is a field of eye-catching 
craters that looks like a cluster of bright halos scattered across a dark 
landscape.

The region is far west of the hemisphere NASA's New Horizons spacecraft 
viewed during close approach last summer. The upper image - in black 
and white - sports several dozen "haloed" craters. The largest crater, 
at bottom-right, measures about 30 miles (50 kilometers) across. The craters'
bright walls and rims stand out from their dark floors and surrounding 
terrain, creating the halo effect.

In the lower image, composition data from New Horizons' Ralph/Linear 
Etalon Imaging Spectral Array (LEISA) indicate a connection between the 
bright halos and distribution of methane ice, shown in false color as 
purple. The floors and terrain between craters show signs of water ice, 
colored in blue. Exactly why the bright methane ice settles on these crater 
rims and walls is a mystery; also puzzling is why this same effect doesn't 
occur broadly across Pluto.

The upper view is a mosaic made from two separate images obtained by New 
Horizons' Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI). A high-resolution 
strip taken at approximately 760 feet (232 meters) per pixel is overlain 
on a broader, low-resolution image taken at 2,910 feet (889 meters) per 
pixel.  The images were obtained at ranges of 28,800 miles (46,400 kilometers) 
and 106,700 miles (171,700 kilometers) from Pluto, respectively, on July 
14, 2015. The LEISA data came the same day, during the instrument's 
highest-resolution scan of Pluto, with New Horizons 28,000 miles (45,500 
kilometers) from Pluto, with a resolution of 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometers) 
per pixel.

Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI


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[meteorite-list] Hubble Discovers Moon Orbiting the Dwarf Planet Makemake

[Ron Baalke via Meteorite-list]

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/hubble-discovers-moon-orbiting-the-dwarf-planet-makemake

Hubble Discovers Moon Orbiting the Dwarf Planet Makemake
April 26, 2016

Peering to the outskirts of our solar system, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope 
has spotted a small, dark moon orbiting Makemake, the second brightest 
icy dwarf planet - after Pluto - in the Kuiper Belt.

The moon - provisionally designated S/2015 (136472) 1 and nicknamed 
MK 2 - is more than 1,300 times fainter than Makemake. MK 2 was seen 
approximately 13,000 miles from the dwarf planet, and its diameter is 
estimated to be 100 miles across. Makemake is 870 miles wide. The dwarf 
planet, discovered in 2005, is named for a creation deity of the Rapa 
Nui people of Easter Island.

The Kuiper Belt is a vast reservoir of leftover frozen material from the 
construction of our solar system 4.5 billion years ago and home to several 
dwarf planets. Some of these worlds have known satellites, but this is 
the first discovery of a companion object to Makemake. Makemake is one 
of five dwarf planets recognized by the International Astronomical Union.

The observations were made in April 2015 with Hubble's Wide Field Camera 
3. Hubble's unique ability to see faint objects near bright ones, together 
with its sharp resolution, allowed astronomers to pluck out the moon from 
Makemake's glare. The discovery was announced today in a Minor Planet 
Electronic Circular.

The observing team used the same Hubble technique to observe the moon 
as they did for finding the small satellites of Pluto in 2005, 2011, and 
2012. Several previous searches around Makemake had turned up empty. "Our 
preliminary estimates show that the moon's orbit seems to be edge-on, 
and that means that often when you look at the system you are going to 
miss the moon because it gets lost in the bright glare of Makemake," 
said Alex Parker of Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colorado, who 
led the image analysis for the observations.

A moon's discovery can provide valuable information on the dwarf-planet 
system. By measuring the moon's orbit, astronomers can calculate a mass 
for the system and gain insight into its evolution.

Uncovering the moon also reinforces the idea that most dwarf planets have 
satellites.

"Makemake is in the class of rare Pluto-like objects, so finding a companion 
is important," Parker said. "The discovery of this moon has given 
us an opportunity to study Makemake in far greater detail than we ever 
would have been able to without the companion."

Finding this moon only increases the parallels between Pluto and Makemake. 
Both objects are already known to be covered in frozen methane. As was 
done with Pluto, further study of the satellite will easily reveal the 
density of Makemake, a key result that will indicate if the bulk compositions 
of Pluto and Makemake are also similar. "This new discovery opens a 
new chapter in comparative planetology in the outer solar system," said 
team leader Marc Buie of the Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colorado.

The researchers will need more Hubble observations to make accurate 
measurements 
to determine if the moon's orbit is elliptical or circular. Preliminary 
estimates indicate that if the moon is in a circular orbit, it completes 
a circuit around Makemake in 12 days or longer.

Determining the shape of the moon's orbit will help settle the question 
of its origin. A tight circular orbit means that MK 2 is probably the 
product of a collision between Makemake and another Kuiper Belt Object. 
If the moon is in a wide, elongated orbit, it is more likely to be a captured 
object from the Kuiper Belt. Either event would have likely occurred several 
billion years ago, when the solar system was young.

The discovery may have solved one mystery about Makemake. Previous infrared 
studies of the dwarf planet revealed that while Makemake's surface is 
almost entirely bright and very cold, some areas appear warmer than other 
areas. Astronomers had suggested that this discrepancy may be due to the 
sun warming discrete dark patches on Makemake's surface. However, unless 
Makemake is in a special orientation, these dark patches should make the 
dwarf planet's brightness vary substantially as it rotates. But this 
amount of variability has never been observed.

These previous infrared data did not have sufficient resolution to separate 
Makemake from MK 2. The team's reanalysis, based on the new Hubble 
observations, 
suggests that much of the warmer surface detected previously in infrared 
light may, in reality, simply have been the dark surface of the companion 
MK 2.
There are several possibilities that could explain why the moon would 
have a charcoal-black surface, even though it is orbiting a dwarf planet 
that is as bright as fresh snow. One idea is that, unlike larger objects 
such as Makemake, MK 2 is small enough that it cannot gravitationally 
hold onto a bright, icy crust, which sublimates, 

[meteorite-list] AD - Suoer NWA 5000 Lunar Specimens Ending At Auction

[Raremeteorites via Meteorite-list]

Dear List Members,

Please note that I have several awesome NWA 5000 specimens ending at auction 
this evening.  They were started out at just 99 cents with no reserve and 
are currently only bid up to super bargain levels.


List of NWA 5000 specimens ending this evening:

Legendary NWA 5000 Lunar Meteorite Moon Rock 1.0 grams - ONE GRAM!
SEE!! http://r.ebay.com/xTytKJ

Legendary NWA 5000 Lunar Meteorite Moon Rock .856 grams - GORGEOUS!
http://r.ebay.com/UC1H8i

Legendary NWA 5000 Lunar Meteorite Moon Rock .518 grams - BEAUTIFUL!
http://r.ebay.com/vcjOIS

Legendary NWA 5000 Lunar Meteorite Moon Rock .452 grams - STUNNING!
http://r.ebay.com/25R5fr

Legendary NWA 5000 Lunar Meteorite Moon Rock 1.0 grams Pure Dust
http://r.ebay.com/5sMMmz

Thank you for looking, and if you are bidding, good luck,

Adam 



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[meteorite-list] Need Sutter's Mill please

[Laurence Garvie via Meteorite-list]

Dear Meteorite collectors,

I am in the process of working on the bulk mineralogy of Sutter’s Mill as 
determined by powder x-ray diffraction. I have run several samples now, 
including the pre-rain SM3, and found some interesting minerals. My big 
interest is in the clay mineralogy, the quantity and type in each sample I am 
arguing reflects degree of pre-terrestrial heating. I now have a relatively 
good dataset of samples (SM3,41,38,49,65,8,6,12,53), but would dearly like to 
run a few more. There seems to be some gaps in the data with regards to clay 
content and hence heating. I don’t know yet whether this gap reflects the fact 
that I have not looked at enough samples, or is real and is telling us that 
there are two groups of Sutter’s Mill - clay rich (mildly heated), and clay 
poor (heated to high temperature).

So, I am looking for small pieces of samples for my research. Ideally, I am 
looking for donations of small fragments - 100 mg would be perfect, though I 
can still work on samples in the 20 mg range.

If anyone has samples available, then please feel free to email me.

Thanks

Laurence


Dr. Laurence A.J. Garvie

Chair, Nomenclature Committee
The Meteoritical Society

Curator
Center for Meteorite Studies

Research Professor
School of Earth and Space Exploration
Arizona State University
email: lgar...@asu.edu
---







On Apr 25, 2016, at 10:26 PM, 
meteorite-list-requ...@meteoritecentral.com
 wrote:

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Today's Topics:

  1. Re: WR Gallery Delay ? U.S. World Record Mars Meteorite
 Discovery (MexicoDoug)
  2. Meteorite Picture of the Day (valpar...@aol.com)
  3. Dawn Spacecraft May Visit Third Asteroid After Ceres and
 Vesta (Ron Baalke)
  4. Firefighters Think Maryland Brush Fire Started by Meteorite
 (Ron Baalke)
  5. NASA Seeks Industry Ideas for an Advanced Mars Satellite
 (Ron Baalke)
  6. Re: Group of Moroccans Found the Association for Meteorite
 Professionals in Erfoud, Morocco (Raremeteorites)
  7. Time for another nonsense story from the media... (Tommy)


--

Message: 1
Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2016 02:29:33 -0400
From: MexicoDoug 
To: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] WR Gallery Delay ? U.S. World Record
Mars Meteorite Discovery
Message-ID: <1544c1bd839-2804-6...@webprd-m14.mail.aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8

'Bikkurim L'HaShem Adonai Yeshua HaMashiach' (644.7g pile)

Ba?al Zebub would be an easier nickname for that mass.  Do you mean fusion 
crust or Krylon Fusion (R) paint?







-Original Message-
From: Ann Cain via Meteorite-list 
To: meteorite-list 
Sent: Sat, Apr 23, 2016 6:46 pm
Subject: [meteorite-list] WR Gallery Delay ? U.S. World Record Mars Meteorite 
Discovery

Meteorite List,

I would like to apologize for not having The Gallery of World Record Mars 
Meteorites, from the US World Record Mars Meteorite Discovery, ready and up for 
viewing for this Passover 4-23-16, as I said I would. Things have been very 
busy this school year. However, this summer I will finish. I now intend to have 
it ready on Rosh Hashanah 5777 AD/CE, (October 3-4, 2016), and I?m hoping a 3rd 
PR can be released at that time in addition.


Rosh Hashanah 5777 AD/CE should be a good year of blessings, and I?m looking 
forward to a new U.S. administration.



Shalom,


Glyn Howard





The Gallery of US World Record Mars Meteorite specimens:
http://gfoundit-mars.com/GalleryOfImages.html


The Evidence for GSA and GSB Mars Meteorites and Relevant Essays and Articles
http://gfoundit-mars.com/TheEvidence.html


The Evidence - G Found It - US World Record Mars Meteorite Discovery
http://www.einpresswire.com/article/225047567/the-evidence-g-found-it-us-world-record-mars-meteorite-discovery


G Found It - U.S. World Record Mars Meteorite Discovery
http://www.gfoundit-mars.com/


G Found It ? U.S. World Record Mars Meteorite Discovery
http://www.einpresswire.com/article/143477981/g-found-it-u-s-world-record-mars-meteorite-discovery





Recall: Both my sister Ann Cain (who opened the email account) and I, Glyn 
Howard, use the same email 

[meteorite-list] Japan Lyrid Large Fireball with great fragmentation 22APR2016 w/ Video.

[drtanuki via Meteorite-list]

List,
Japan Lyrid Large Fireball with great fragmentation 22APR2016 w/ Video.
http://lunarmeteoritehunters.blogspot.jp/2016/04/japan-bolide-meteor-22apr2016.html
Dirk Ross...Tokyo The Latest Worldwide Meteor/Meteorite News 
http://lunarmeteoritehunters.blogspot.com/
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[meteorite-list] Sutter's Mill request

[opuntia_man via Meteorite-list]

Dear Meteorite collectors,

I am in the process of working on the bulk mineralogy of Sutter’s Mill as 
determined by powder x-ray diffraction. I have run several samples now, 
including the pre-rain SM3, and found some interesting minerals. My big 
interest is in the clay mineralogy, the quantity and type in each sample I am 
arguing reflects degree of pre-terrestrial heating. I now have a relatively 
good dataset of samples (SM3,41,38,49,65,8,6,12,53), but would dearly like to 
run a few more. There seems to be some gaps in the data with regards to clay 
content and hence heating. I don’t know yet whether this gap reflects the fact 
that I have not looked at enough samples, or is real and is telling us that 
there are two groups of Sutter’s Mill - clay rich (mildly heated), and clay 
poor (heated to high temperature).

So, I am looking for small pieces of samples for my research. Ideally, I am 
looking for donations of small fragments - 100 mg would be perfect, though I 
can still work on samples in the 20 mg range.

If anyone has samples available, then please feel free to email me.

Thanks

Laurence 


Dr. Laurence A.J. Garvie

Chair, Nomenclature Committee
The Meteoritical Society

Curator
Center for Meteorite Studies

Research Professor
School of Earth and Space Exploration
Arizona State University
email: lgar...@asu.edu
---

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[meteorite-list] Meteorite Picture of the Day

[Paul Swartz via Meteorite-list]

Today's Meteorite Picture of the Day: Chelyabinsk

Contributed by: Herbert Raab

http://www.tucsonmeteorites.com/mpodmain.asp?DD=04/26/2016
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