STANFORD UNIVERSITY
EE 350 RADIOSCIENCE SEMINAR
Professor Leonard Tyler
Autumn 2002-2003

Date: Wednesday, November 13, 2002
Time: 12:10-1:05 PM
Location: Packard EE Bldg., Rm. 202

Once and Future Pluto:

What we know now, what the puzzles are, and

what we can learn from future observations

and the Pluto-Kuiper Belt mission.

Dr. Leslie Young

Southwest Research Institute, Boulder

Abstract

Over the last decade, our broad understanding of the Pluto-Charon system has been refined by continued modeling and more sensitive observations from ground-based observatories and HST. Despite this refinement--or perhaps because of it--major puzzles remain. How was Charon formed? How are methane and carbon dioxide ices distributed on Pluto's surface? How will Pluto's atmosphere and surface change as Pluto recedes from the Sun?

I will review the observations and models that lead to our current understanding of the orbits, interiors, surfaces, and atmospheres of Pluto and Charon, highlighting the more pressing and confounding questions. I will finish with a description of the New Horizons mission to Pluto-Charon and the Kuiper belt, discussing how this mission will address our outstanding questions and revolutionize our view of the edge of our solar system.