Friday, September 28, 2012

Pluto captured in best telescope image

http://tinyurl.com/d5y666w

September 27, 2012 - UPI.com
 ...
Astronomers at the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii used Pluto, no longer the solar system's ninth planet but rather reclassified as a dwarf planet, and its largest moon as a surrogate extrasolar planetary system to produce exceptionally high-resolution images with the observatory's 26-foot telescope using a method called reconstructive speckle imaging.
...

Best Photo of Pluto from Earth Snapped by Hawaii Telescope

http://www.space.com/17784-best-pluto-photo-from-earth-picture.html

September 26, 2012 - Space.com
A ground-based telescope has snapped the sharpest image yet of Pluto and its moon Charon taken in visible light from Earth.
The Gemini North 8-meter telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawai'i captured the photo of the dwarf planet  and its companion using a technique called reconstructive speckle imaging. The resulting image clearly shows the two bodies, which are nearly 3.7 billion miles (6 billion kilometers) from the sun — about 40 times the distance between the sun and Earth.
...

Thursday, September 27, 2012

New Speckly Image Shows Non-Planet Pluto In the Sharpest Detail Yet

http://tinyurl.com/bwpncq4

September 27, 2012 - Popular Science
This blurry image of Pluto and Charon may not seem that impressive at first glance, but consider this: The resolution here is equivalent to separating a pair of car headlights in Providence, Rhode Island, from a viewing spot in San Francisco. This is the clearest image ever taken in visible light of our favorite dwarf planet and its largest companion.
Scientists using the Gemini Observatory used the “speckle method” to obtain this image, which involves taking a lot of snapshots and then stitching them together. Each picture was a 60 millisecond exposure, or about 1/20th of a second. Instead of using adaptive optics to cancel out Earth’s atmospheric turbulence and other artifacts, the speckle method combines the light from each object in each picture, which remains constant. 
...

Gemini Observatory Takes Sharpest Ground-Based Images Ever Of Pluto And Charon

http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1112701833/gemini-pluto-charon-092712/

September 27, 2012 - redOrbit
Pluto, the dwarf planet (ex-number-nine), and its larger companion Charon, recently posed for astronomers. Using the high-resolution Gemini North 8-meter telescope along with reconstructive speckle imaging, astronomers were able to capture the twin extrasolar planetary system, providing the sharpest ground-based images of the deep-space dwellers.

Sharpest-ever ground-based images of Pluto and Charon

http://tinyurl.com/8dfp3y4

September 27, 2012 - Astronomy.com
The data from Gemini North verified and refined previous orbital characteristics for the dwarf planet and its largest moon while revealing the pair’s precise diameters.
...

Hawaii telescope snaps best photo yet of Pluto from Earth

http://tinyurl.com/8b4ppaz

September 26, 2012 - NBC News
A ground-based telescope has snapped the sharpest image yet of Pluto and its moon Charon taken in visible light from Earth.
The Gemini North 8-meter telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawai'i captured the photo of the dwarf planet and its companion using a technique called reconstructive speckle imaging. The resulting image clearly shows the two bodies, which are nearly 3.7 billion miles (6 billion kilometers) from the sun — about 40 times the distance between the sun and Earth.
...

Researchers Present the Sharpest Image of Pluto Ever Taken from Earth

http://tinyurl.com/bpan7yo

September 26, 2012 - UniverseToday
...
After taking a series of quick “snapshots” of Pluto and Charon using a recently-developed camera called the Differential Speckle Survey Instrument (DSSI), which was mounted on the Gemini Observatory’s 8-meter telescope in Hawaii, researchers combined them into a single image while canceling out the noise caused by turbulence and optical aberrations. This “speckle imaging” technique resulted in an incredibly clear, crisp image of the distant pair of worlds — especially considering that 1. it was made with images taken from the ground, 2. Pluto is small, and 3. Pluto is very, very far away.
...


Thursday, September 13, 2012

Missing supernova mystery solved

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2012/09/07/3584619.htm

September 7, 2012 - ABC Science
A large number of dying stars called core-collapse supernovae are not detected because they are obscured by galactic dust, say astronomers.
...
Ryder and colleagues used the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii to peer through the obscuring dust, looking for the missing supernovae at infrared wavelengths, which penetrates dust better than optical light.
...