Pluto And Charon Close-Up Pictures From New Horizons 'Amazes' NASA Scientists
NASA Scientists 'Amazed' By Pluto Close-Up Pictures
Paul Vale & Tahira Mirza— AP/The Huffington Post UK
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Scientists have released the first up-close images ever of Pluto and its large moon Charon. And they say they're amazed. The long-awaited images were unveiled Wednesday in Maryland, home to mission operations for NASA's New Horizons spacecraft.
A zoom-in of Pluto reveals an icy range about as high as the Rockies. To the scientists' great surprise, there are no impact craters. On Charon, deep troughs and canyons can be seen.
The images were collected as New Horizons swept within 7,700 miles of Pluto on Tuesday, becoming Pluto's first visitor in its 4.5 billion-year existence.
Scientists didn't know until Tuesday night — when the spacecraft phoned home — that the encounter was a success. New Horizons already is 1 million miles beyond the dwarf planet, and 3 billion miles from Earth. The image of Charon boasts a dark patch at its north pole, which has been informally called "Mordor" by NASA scientists.
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An image provided by NASA shows a region near Pluto's equator with a range of mountains captured by the New Horizons spacecraft
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Wednesday image shows Pluto's largest moon, Charon, made by the New Horizons spacecraft
Travelling more than 8 million kilometres at a speed of 30,800 miles per hour, the small spacecraft has taken nine years to reach Pluto. Such is the distance, communications from the craft take hours to travel back to Earth.
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An artist’s concept of the New Horizons spacecraft as it approaches Pluto and its largest moon, Charon
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Guests and New Horizons team members countdown to the spacecraft's closest approach to Pluto
The fly-by is a major landmark for space exploration with Pluto the last of the nine planets of the Solar System to be visited by a spacecraft from Earth. Echoing the excitement of the scientists, US President Barack Obama tweeted his congratulations to the team and highlighted the event as an example of American innovation.
This image received on July 8, 2015 and made available by NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute shows Pluto from the New Horizonsâ Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) combined with lower-resolution color information from the spacecraft's Ralph instrument. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(02 of07)
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Members of the New Horizons science team react to seeing the spacecraft's last and sharpest image of Pluto before closest approach later in the day, Tuesday, July 14, 2015, at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland. NASA's New Horizons spacecraft was on track to zoom within 7,800 miles (12,500 kilometers) of Pluto on Tuesday. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(03 of07)
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This Monday, July 13, 2015 combination image released by NASA shows Pluto, left, and its moon, Charon, with differences in surface material and features depicted in exaggerated colors made by using different filters on a camera aboard the New Horizons spacecraft. In this composite false-color image, the apparent distance between the two bodies has also been reduced. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Mark Holdridge, encounter mission manager with Johns Hopkins, Applied Physics Lab, raises his arms after mission operations establish that the New Horizons spacecraft is functioning properly as it orbits past Pluto, Tuesday, July 14, 2015, in Laurel, Md. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(06 of07)
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New Horizons team members and guests watch a live feed of the Mission Operations Center (MOC) as the team waits to receive confirmation from the spacecraft that it has completed the flyby of Pluto, Tuesday, July 14, 2015 at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(07 of07)
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Fran Bagenal, a member of the New Horizons science team reacts after the team received confirmation from the spacecraft that it has completed the flyby of Pluto, Tuesday, July 14, 2015 at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)