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In Tune with Neptune
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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 | |
