Tag: Charon

  • Five years after New Horizons flyby, scientists assess next mission to Pluto

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    A composite of enhanced color images of Pluto (lower right) and Charon (upper left), taken by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft as it passed through the Pluto system on July 14, 2015. This image highlights the striking differences between Pluto and Charon. The color and brightness of both Pluto and Charon have been processed identically to…

  • Final Pluto data transmission received from flyby probe

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    Artist’s concept of the New Horizons spacecraft transmitting data back to Earth through its 83-inch (2.1-meter) antenna. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI The last bits of data collected during NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft’s speedy flyby of Pluto last year are back on Earth, scientists said Thursday, marking the official end of the probe’s prime mission. It took more…

  • ‘Weird’ mountains on Pluto may be ice volcanoes

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    The informally named feature Wright Mons, located south of Sputnik Planum on Pluto, is an unusual feature that’s about 100 miles (160 kilometers) wide and 13,000 feet (4 kilometers) high. It displays a summit depression (visible in the center of the image) that’s approximately 35 miles (56 kilometers) across, with a distinctive hummocky texture on…

  • A crescent Pluto shines like a jewel in the Kuiper Belt

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    This image, taken 15 minutes after the New Horizons spacecraft’s closest approach to Pluto on July 14, reveals the distant world’s rugged terrain and atmospheric haze layers. This image, first published in early September, was re-released by NASA Thursday after further image progressing to bring out details. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI An image released Thursday, taken by…

  • Initial Pluto flyby science results published

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    STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION This high-resolution image captured by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft combines blue, red and infrared images taken by the Ralph/Multispectral Visual Imaging Camera (MVIC). The bright expanse is the western lobe of the “heart,” informally called Sputnik Planum, which has been found to be rich in nitrogen, carbon monoxide…

  • Charon takes center stage in new batch of New Horizons images

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    This enhanced color view of Charon comes from New Horizons’ Ralph color camera. The colors highlight the subtle variations in the composition of Charon’s crust, with the reddish region near the north pole — informally named Mordor Macular — standing out most prominently. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute With a meandering…

  • Scientists revel in latest Pluto close-ups

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    This synthetic perspective view of Pluto, based on the latest high-resolution images to be downlinked from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, shows what you would see if you were approximately 1,100 miles (1,800 kilometers) above Pluto’s equatorial area, looking northeast over the dark, cratered, informally named Cthulhu Regio toward the bright, smooth, expanse of icy plains…

  • Scientists eager for restart of Pluto photo pipeline

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    Four images from New Horizons’ Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) were combined with color data from the Ralph instrument to create this global view of Pluto. (The lower right edge of Pluto in this view currently lacks high-resolution color coverage.) The images, taken when the spacecraft was 280,000 miles (450,000 kilometers) away, show features as…

  • Scientists share first close-up snapshot of Charon

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    The view of Charon in the inset of this image was taken by New Horizons’ LORRI camera around 6:30 a.m. EDT (1030 GMT) on July 14, less than 90 minutes before closest approach to Pluto.Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI A day after revealing mind-boggling ice mountains on Pluto, researchers from NASA’s New Horizons mission on Thursday released a…

  • Scientists thrilled with mountains on Pluto, chasms on Charon

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    STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION A snapshot of Pluto shows fresh deposits of water ice bedrock and 11,000-foot mountains, revealing evidence Pluto’s surface is one of the youngest in the solar system. Photo credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI Post-flyby images from NASA’s New Horizons probe show Pluto is a surprisingly active world in the deep freeze…