Space
Pluto Flyby of New Horizons is Tomorrow! Unprecedented Images of the Tiny Planet
Catherine Griffin
First Posted: Jul 13, 2015 07:54 AM EDT
There's just one day to be before NASA's New Horizons spacecraft will make its historic flyby in Pluto. In the meantime, though, it's revealed new images of Pluto and Charon that reveal startling details.
On July 11, New Horizons captured an image of Pluto that shows intriguing features that may actually be cliffs. The scientists also can spot a circular feature in the new image that could be an impact crater. Just starting to rotate into view on the left side of the image is a bright, heart-shaped feature that will be seen in more details during New Horizons' closest approach.
The spacecraft also captured new images of Charon, Pluto's largest moon. About 60 miles across, the moon has bright spots from material blasted out of one of its crater; this suggests that Charon formed relatively recently in geologic terms.
"This is the first clear evidence of faulting and surface disruption on Charon," said William McKinnon, one of the researchers, in a news release. "New Horizons has transformed our view of this distant moon from a nearly featureless ball of ice to a world displaying all kinds of geologic activity."
In just one day, New Horizons will make its flyby. This will be the closest approach that any spacecraft has made to the tiny planet today. The flyby itself will occur tomorrow, on Tuesday, at 7:49 a.m. EDT; this will end its 3 billion-mile journey to the cold planet.
In order to keep an eye on New Horizons and Pluto, keep track of the New Horizons Facebook page here.
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First Posted: Jul 13, 2015 07:54 AM EDT
There's just one day to be before NASA's New Horizons spacecraft will make its historic flyby in Pluto. In the meantime, though, it's revealed new images of Pluto and Charon that reveal startling details.
On July 11, New Horizons captured an image of Pluto that shows intriguing features that may actually be cliffs. The scientists also can spot a circular feature in the new image that could be an impact crater. Just starting to rotate into view on the left side of the image is a bright, heart-shaped feature that will be seen in more details during New Horizons' closest approach.
The spacecraft also captured new images of Charon, Pluto's largest moon. About 60 miles across, the moon has bright spots from material blasted out of one of its crater; this suggests that Charon formed relatively recently in geologic terms.
"This is the first clear evidence of faulting and surface disruption on Charon," said William McKinnon, one of the researchers, in a news release. "New Horizons has transformed our view of this distant moon from a nearly featureless ball of ice to a world displaying all kinds of geologic activity."
In just one day, New Horizons will make its flyby. This will be the closest approach that any spacecraft has made to the tiny planet today. The flyby itself will occur tomorrow, on Tuesday, at 7:49 a.m. EDT; this will end its 3 billion-mile journey to the cold planet.
In order to keep an eye on New Horizons and Pluto, keep track of the New Horizons Facebook page here.
Related Stories
NASA New Horizons Races Toward Pluto and its Heart-Shaped Features
NASA New Horizons Spacecraft Glitches as it Prepares for Pluto Flyby
For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone