Pluto has been the star of the solar system in the previous months with its incredible diversity of features being revealed by the New Horizons spacecraft of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). It looks like something straight out of the 1960s. Why is Hubble able to get extremely detailed images of galaxies and nebulae millions of light years away, but when it comes to taking pictures of Pluto, it shows up as a blurry ball? Earlier in July, the spacecraft made a close flyby of the planet and captured a few crucial information. Stern, who represents the Colorado-based Southwest Research Institute or SWRI, made this comment at the meeting held by American Astronomical Society’s Division of Planetary Science on Monday in National Harbor, MD. A new, brilliantly coloured image was recently released highlighting the subtle colour differences among the regions of the dwarf planet.
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NASA New Horizons has revealed much about the small, icy plains, volcanoes, mountains, chemical composition, and complex atmosphere of Pluto. During this study it was also discovered that Pluto’s four mini moons seem to be rotating around it in a chaotic way. However, in spite of getting so much data, it was not easy for the scientists to create a ideal image of Pluto. According to Gizmag reports, Wright Mons, situated toward the south of Sputnik Planum, towers two miles (3.2 km) over the encompassing scene and compasses around 100 miles (160 km), whilst the taller Piccard Mons extends an entire three miles (4.8 km) up toward the midget planet’s dubious climate. Pluto has ice volcanoes (cryovolcanoes) that may have been dynamic in the late times. “Otherwise, total solar eclipses would not be as spectacular as they are”.
“In comparison, a galaxy that Hubble might observe could cover a full arcsecond on the sky, so that’s 20 times larger”.
New Horizons also found several deep fractures in Pluto’s surface, the largest of which spans more than 320 kilometers in length.
The stunning photos have changed our understanding of this distant realm on the dark outer rim of the solar system.
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“Before New Horizons, Pluto was just a pin prick against a starry backdrop”, Lidman said.
