Goddard Space Flight Center
Planetary Systems Laboratory

Planetary Systems Laboratory

Two Columns

HIGHLIGHTS

PLUTO

The planet Pluto occulted a star on 18 March 2007. Scientists in the Planetary Systems Laboratory (led by D. E. Jennings) used three telescopes on Kitt Peak to observe the event in the visible and infrared. The grazing path at Kitt Peak gave a profile through Pluto's atmosphere, and the results can be used to infer the nature of the atmosphere, in support of the New Horizons mission to Pluto. Gradual ingress and egress intensity changes were detected, plus scintillations near center, as shown in the data on the Figure. These results are being combined with observations from other sites to derive a more complete description of Pluto's atmospheric opacity and structure.


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Planetary Systems Laboratory

RELATED SITES

Eclipse Home Page
Solar and Lunar Eclipses of the Past, Present and Future.


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