[meteorite-list] New Image of Pluto: 'Houston, We Have Geology'

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-image-of-pluto-houston-we-have-geology

New Image of Pluto: 'Houston, We Have Geology'
July 10, 2015

Tantalizing signs of geology on Pluto are revealed in this image from 
New Horizons taken on July 9, 2015 from 3.3 million miles (5.4 million 
kilometers) away.

An annotated version indicates features described in the text, and includes 
a reference globe showing Pluto's orientation in the image, with the equator 
and central meridian in bold.

It began as a point of light. Then, it evolved into a fuzzy orb. Now - 
in its latest portrait from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft - Pluto is 
being revealed as an intriguing new world with distinct surface  features, 
including an immense dark band known as the "whale."

As the newest black and white image from New Horizons' Long Range Reconnaissance 
Imager (LORRI) appeared on the morning of July 10, members of the science 
team reacted with joy and delight, seeing Pluto as never before. There 
will no doubt be many similar moments to come. New images and data are 
being gathered each day as New Horizons speeds closer to a July 14 flyby 
of Pluto, following a journey of three billion miles.

"We're close enough now that we're just starting to see Pluto's geology," 
said New Horizons program scientist Curt Niebur, NASA Headquarters in 
Washington, who's keenly interested in the gray area just above the whale's 
"tail" feature. "It's a unique transition region with a lot of dynamic 
processes interacting, which makes it of particular scientific interest."

New Horizons' latest image of Pluto was taken on July 9, 2015 from 3.3 
million miles (5.4 million kilometers) away, with a resolution of 17 miles 
(27 kilometers) per pixel. At this range, Pluto is beginning to reveal 
the first signs of discrete geologic features. This image views the side 
of Pluto that always faces its largest moon, Charon, and includes the 
so-called "tail" of the dark whale-shaped feature along its equator. (The 
immense, bright feature shaped like a heart had rotated from view when 
this image was captured.) 

"Among the structures tentatively identified in this new image are what 
appear to be polygonal features; a complex band of terrain stretching 
east-northeast across the planet, approximately 1,000 miles long; and 
a complex region where bright terrains meet the dark terrains of the whale," 
said New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern. "After nine and a 
half years in flight, Pluto is well worth the wait."

Follow the New Horizons mission with #PlutoFlyby and on Facebook at: 
https://www.facebook.com/new.horizons1
 
Last Updated: July 10, 2015
Editor: Tricia Talbert