In Tune with Neptune
Caption:
The New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) observed Neptune on June 23, apl2010, as part of a test of the critical optical navigation Annual Checkout (ACO)-4. In this 100-millisecond exposure, taken when the spacecraft was 23.2 astronomical units (about 2.15 billion miles) from Neptune, the planet appears slightly larger than a star. At the time of this observation, the solar phase angle (the spacecraft-planet-Sun angle) was 34 degrees and the solar elongation angle (planet-spacecraft -Sun angle) was 95 degrees. Only New Horizons can observe Neptune at such large solar phase angles, which can be used to study the light-scattering properties of Neptune's atmosphere.
Cataloging Keywords:
Name |
Value |
Additional Values |
Target |
Neptune |
|
System |
Neptune |
|
Target Type |
Planet |
|
Mission |
New Horizons |
|
Instrument Host |
New Horizons |
|
Host Type |
Flyby Spacecraft |
|
Instrument |
Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) |
|
Detector |
|
|
Extra Keywords |
Atmosphere, Color, Visual |
Acquisition Date |
|
Release Date |
2010-07-27 |
Date in Caption |
|
|
Image Credit |
NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute |
Source |
photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07433 |
Identifier |
PIA07433 |