The interplanetary station New Horizons has successfully come out of sleep mode

The best at the moment image of Pluto and Charon (Hubble, 1994)

As previously reported , the interplanetary station New Horizons, which is now at a distance of 2.9 billion kilometers from Earth, has woken up successfully. Scientists have learned about this through the appropriate signal from the station. According to experts, there is nothing outstanding in the fact that the station came out of hibernation - during its journey, New Horizons fell asleep and woke up many times.

However, the fact that the station is in operation is excellent news. Soon, New Horizons will begin a rapprochement with Pluto and his companion Charon. By the way, Charon was discovered only in 1978, and Pluto - in 1930. Interestingly, the center of mass "Pluto-Charon" is outside of Pluto, so some scientists believe that Charon should not be considered as a satellite of Pluto, but as a planetoid. The “Pluto-Charon” system itself, according to the same theory, is a binary planetary system. However, due to the peculiarities of the current classification, Charon was not included in the number of dwarf planets (unlike Pluto), therefore, the planetary system “Pluto-Charon” cannot be called now.
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Another interesting point that was mentioned in the material about the imminent awakening of the station New Horizons: Charon, unlike Pluto, is covered with water ice, and there is a theory that there may exist an under ice ocean of liquid water on Charon.


Another photo of the Pluto system, obtained by Hubble in 2005


Perhaps it is this view that the observer will open from the surface of Pluto (the bright star is the Sun, and the shaded disk is Charon)

Anyway, the Hew Horizons station will soon have to get closer to Pluto at a distance of only 12.5 thousand kilometers, which will make it possible to make very high-quality images of the system. The maximum convergence with Pluto should occur July 14, 2015. The station, scientists hope, will be able to clarify one more thing: the existence of a Pluto-Charon bound atmosphere.


English-language videoconference recording of scientists discussing the New Horizons mission

The station’s scientific instruments should help scientists obtain detailed information on Pluto and Charon, including the possibility of Pluto’s own magnetosphere, data on the composition of the atmosphere of Pluto and Charon, as well as on the interaction of both planetoids. At the moment, the system is virtually unknown, due to its distance from the Sun.