Why does it take so long to transmit a photo from New-horizon to earth?
I just got the news that the new-horizon has passed by some remote planet on the edge of the solar system.
I was surprised that the guy from NASA says that it might take 24 months from us to get the photo of that planet.
The solar system is not that big, right? It is slow because the signal transmission is slow, right? But why is the transmission so slow?
solar-system data-analysis nasa
asked 3 hours ago
S. Kohn
1663
add a comment |
I just got the news that the new-horizon has passed by some remote planet on the edge of the solar system.
I was surprised that the guy from NASA says that it might take 24 months from us to get the photo of that planet.
The solar system is not that big, right? It is slow because the signal transmission is slow, right? But why is the transmission so slow?
solar-system data-analysis nasa
asked 3 hours ago
S. Kohn
1663
add a comment |
I just got the news that the new-horizon has passed by some remote planet on the edge of the solar system.
I was surprised that the guy from NASA says that it might take 24 months from us to get the photo of that planet.
The solar system is not that big, right? It is slow because the signal transmission is slow, right? But why is the transmission so slow?
solar-system data-analysis nasa
asked 3 hours ago
S. Kohn
1663
I just got the news that the new-horizon has passed by some remote planet on the edge of the solar system.
I was surprised that the guy from NASA says that it might take 24 months from us to get the photo of that planet.
The solar system is not that big, right? It is slow because the signal transmission is slow, right? But why is the transmission so slow?
solar-system data-analysis nasa
solar-system data-analysis nasa
asked 3 hours ago
S. Kohn
1663
asked 3 hours ago
S. Kohn
1663
asked 3 hours ago
S. Kohn
1663
asked 3 hours ago
S. Kohn
1663
asked 3 hours ago
S. Kohn
1663
1663
add a comment |
add a comment |
1 Answer
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New Horizons has just passed the Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) 2014 MU69 also known as Ultima Thule. KBOs form a belt of asteroids (the Kuiper Belt) from Neptune's orbit outwards and of which Pluto is the largest member of the Belt. During the encounter with Ultima Thule, all of the 7 instruments on New Horizons were gathering data (although not all at the same time) and the total data collected is expected to be about 50 gigabits of data (compared to 55 gigabits of data taken during the Pluto encounter in 2015).
Since New Horizons is about another billion miles further out than Pluto was and 3 more years have elapsed, there is less power for the (tiny) transmitter and the signals are much weaker. The bit rate is about 1000 bits per second and so the 50 gigabits will indeed take about 19-20 months to transmit everything back. The first image at about 300 meters per pixel resolution and so about 100 pixels across the 30 km KBO, should be received on Jan 1. A second higher resolution image with about 300 pixels across the KBO is expected to be downloaded by Jan 2. There will be a press conference on Jan 2 when these images are due to be released and shown. (more details on what to expect when at Emily Lakdawalla's Planetary Society blog entry)
After the initial data download, they expect to perform some analysis to see which images have the best data with 2014 MU69 in the frame. Given the uncertainty in the position of 2014 MU69 and the high speed of the encounter, they had to shoot strips of images and not all will contain the target. These data will be prioritized in the downlink so they arrive on the ground first and can be analyzed first.
answered 1 hour ago
astrosnapper
1,752419
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1 Answer
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1 Answer
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New Horizons has just passed the Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) 2014 MU69 also known as Ultima Thule. KBOs form a belt of asteroids (the Kuiper Belt) from Neptune's orbit outwards and of which Pluto is the largest member of the Belt. During the encounter with Ultima Thule, all of the 7 instruments on New Horizons were gathering data (although not all at the same time) and the total data collected is expected to be about 50 gigabits of data (compared to 55 gigabits of data taken during the Pluto encounter in 2015).
Since New Horizons is about another billion miles further out than Pluto was and 3 more years have elapsed, there is less power for the (tiny) transmitter and the signals are much weaker. The bit rate is about 1000 bits per second and so the 50 gigabits will indeed take about 19-20 months to transmit everything back. The first image at about 300 meters per pixel resolution and so about 100 pixels across the 30 km KBO, should be received on Jan 1. A second higher resolution image with about 300 pixels across the KBO is expected to be downloaded by Jan 2. There will be a press conference on Jan 2 when these images are due to be released and shown. (more details on what to expect when at Emily Lakdawalla's Planetary Society blog entry)
After the initial data download, they expect to perform some analysis to see which images have the best data with 2014 MU69 in the frame. Given the uncertainty in the position of 2014 MU69 and the high speed of the encounter, they had to shoot strips of images and not all will contain the target. These data will be prioritized in the downlink so they arrive on the ground first and can be analyzed first.
answered 1 hour ago
astrosnapper
1,752419
add a comment |
New Horizons has just passed the Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) 2014 MU69 also known as Ultima Thule. KBOs form a belt of asteroids (the Kuiper Belt) from Neptune's orbit outwards and of which Pluto is the largest member of the Belt. During the encounter with Ultima Thule, all of the 7 instruments on New Horizons were gathering data (although not all at the same time) and the total data collected is expected to be about 50 gigabits of data (compared to 55 gigabits of data taken during the Pluto encounter in 2015).
Since New Horizons is about another billion miles further out than Pluto was and 3 more years have elapsed, there is less power for the (tiny) transmitter and the signals are much weaker. The bit rate is about 1000 bits per second and so the 50 gigabits will indeed take about 19-20 months to transmit everything back. The first image at about 300 meters per pixel resolution and so about 100 pixels across the 30 km KBO, should be received on Jan 1. A second higher resolution image with about 300 pixels across the KBO is expected to be downloaded by Jan 2. There will be a press conference on Jan 2 when these images are due to be released and shown. (more details on what to expect when at Emily Lakdawalla's Planetary Society blog entry)
After the initial data download, they expect to perform some analysis to see which images have the best data with 2014 MU69 in the frame. Given the uncertainty in the position of 2014 MU69 and the high speed of the encounter, they had to shoot strips of images and not all will contain the target. These data will be prioritized in the downlink so they arrive on the ground first and can be analyzed first.
answered 1 hour ago
astrosnapper
1,752419
add a comment |
New Horizons has just passed the Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) 2014 MU69 also known as Ultima Thule. KBOs form a belt of asteroids (the Kuiper Belt) from Neptune's orbit outwards and of which Pluto is the largest member of the Belt. During the encounter with Ultima Thule, all of the 7 instruments on New Horizons were gathering data (although not all at the same time) and the total data collected is expected to be about 50 gigabits of data (compared to 55 gigabits of data taken during the Pluto encounter in 2015).
Since New Horizons is about another billion miles further out than Pluto was and 3 more years have elapsed, there is less power for the (tiny) transmitter and the signals are much weaker. The bit rate is about 1000 bits per second and so the 50 gigabits will indeed take about 19-20 months to transmit everything back. The first image at about 300 meters per pixel resolution and so about 100 pixels across the 30 km KBO, should be received on Jan 1. A second higher resolution image with about 300 pixels across the KBO is expected to be downloaded by Jan 2. There will be a press conference on Jan 2 when these images are due to be released and shown. (more details on what to expect when at Emily Lakdawalla's Planetary Society blog entry)
After the initial data download, they expect to perform some analysis to see which images have the best data with 2014 MU69 in the frame. Given the uncertainty in the position of 2014 MU69 and the high speed of the encounter, they had to shoot strips of images and not all will contain the target. These data will be prioritized in the downlink so they arrive on the ground first and can be analyzed first.
answered 1 hour ago
astrosnapper
1,752419
New Horizons has just passed the Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) 2014 MU69 also known as Ultima Thule. KBOs form a belt of asteroids (the Kuiper Belt) from Neptune's orbit outwards and of which Pluto is the largest member of the Belt. During the encounter with Ultima Thule, all of the 7 instruments on New Horizons were gathering data (although not all at the same time) and the total data collected is expected to be about 50 gigabits of data (compared to 55 gigabits of data taken during the Pluto encounter in 2015).
Since New Horizons is about another billion miles further out than Pluto was and 3 more years have elapsed, there is less power for the (tiny) transmitter and the signals are much weaker. The bit rate is about 1000 bits per second and so the 50 gigabits will indeed take about 19-20 months to transmit everything back. The first image at about 300 meters per pixel resolution and so about 100 pixels across the 30 km KBO, should be received on Jan 1. A second higher resolution image with about 300 pixels across the KBO is expected to be downloaded by Jan 2. There will be a press conference on Jan 2 when these images are due to be released and shown. (more details on what to expect when at Emily Lakdawalla's Planetary Society blog entry)
After the initial data download, they expect to perform some analysis to see which images have the best data with 2014 MU69 in the frame. Given the uncertainty in the position of 2014 MU69 and the high speed of the encounter, they had to shoot strips of images and not all will contain the target. These data will be prioritized in the downlink so they arrive on the ground first and can be analyzed first.
answered 1 hour ago
astrosnapper
1,752419
answered 1 hour ago
astrosnapper
1,752419
answered 1 hour ago
astrosnapper
1,752419
answered 1 hour ago
astrosnapper
1,752419
1,752419
add a comment |
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