Approaching Pluto

After nine years practically to the day, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has officially kicked off its historic encounter with Pluto.


NASA confirmed on Thursday that New Horizons is entering the first of several approach phases, which will culminate on July 14, 2015

when the space probe is nearest to Pluto, allowing it to capture some close-up images of the dwarf planet. 

New Horizons is still about 135 million miles away from Pluto, according to NASA, and on January 25, 2015

it will begin to capture long-range images of the Pluto system that will give scientists a better look at the dynamics of Pluto's moons

and help them navigate New Horizons the rest of the way.

Artist Conception of the Pluto System

Artist�s conception of the Pluto system from the surface of one of its moons. Credit: NASA, ESA and G. Bacon (STScI)

Pluto and Charon are seen circling a central gravitational point

known as the barycenter, which accounts for the wobbling motion.

Since Charon is 1/12th the mass of Pluto the center of mass between the

two actually lies a bit outside Pluto�s radius, making their little

gravitational �dance� readily apparent.

Pluto�s moon Charon moves around the dwarf planet in this animated image based

on the data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA).

Credit: B. Saxton (NRAO/AUI/NSF)


As ALMA is a radio/submillimeter telescope, the array picked up Pluto and its largest moon,

Charon, by looking at the radio emission from their surfaces. They examined the objects in November 2013,

in April 2014 and twice in July. More observations are expected in October.

The Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on New Horizons acquired

images of the Pluto field three days apart in late September 2006, in order to see Pluto's

motion against a dense background of stars. LORRI took three frames at 1-second exposures on both

September 21 and September 24. Because it moved along its predicted path, Pluto was detected in all six images.

The image appears pixilated because it was obtained in a mode that compensates for the drift in spacecraft pointing over long exposure times.

NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute

Jupiter Flyby

New Horizons' first view of Kerberos and Styx Filed under trans-neptunian objects, New Horizons, pretty pictures, Pluto, Charon, animation(May 2015)

Numerical Simulation of Nix's Rotation

This animation is composed of four sets of images taken between April 25 and May 1, 2015 at a distance of roughly 90 million kilometers from Pluto.

Each observation consists of five 10-second exposures that have been added together to make the image in the left panel. 

Images were extensively processed to reduce the bright glare of Pluto and Charon and largely remove the dense field of background stars 

(center and right panels). This reveals the faint satellites, whose positions and orbits - along with those of brighter moons Nix and Hydra -

 are given in the right panel. Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra orbit at 42,000; 49,000; 58,000; and 65,000 kilometers away from the Pluto-Charon barycenter, respectively.

NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI

Published on Jun 3, 2015
This is a numerical simulation of the orientation of Nix as seen from the center of the Pluto system. It has been sped up so that one orbit of Nix around Pluto takes 2 seconds instead of 25 days. Large wobbles are visible, and occasionally the pole flips over. This tumbling behavior meets the formal definition of chaos; the orientation of Nix is fundamentally unpredictable.

Credit: STScI and Mark Showalter, SETI Institute
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Science & Technology
License
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Wobbling and tumbling end-over-end like a badly thrown football,
Pluto’s moons are in a state of orbital chaos, say scientists.

This set of computer modeling illustrations of Pluto’s moon Nix shows how the orientation of the moon changes unpredictably as it orbits the “double planet” Pluto-Charon.
Credit: NASA/ESA/M. Showalter (SETI)/G. Bacon (STScI)

New Horizon's LORRI IMAGES OF PLUTO

Latest Images as of May 29, 2015

Animation of the Pluto System 062015

Pluto and Charon rotation sequence

Pluto's Moon Charon

Ne Horizons Lorri Images of Charon

Charon Up Close Reveals Colossal Chasms and Craters: 1 Day and 1 Million Miles Out from Pluto Flyby(07112015)

Chasms, craters, and a dark north polar region are revealed in this image of Pluto's largest moon Charon 

taken by New Horizons on July 11, 2015. The annotated version includes a diagram showing Charon's north pole,

equator, and central meridian, with the features highlighted. 

Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI 

In the final days before humankinds first ever flyby of mysterious and tantalizing Pluto for the history

making up close visit on Tuesday, July 14, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has just delivered the sharpest 

and most stunning view yet of its binary companion Charon – and unveiled it to be a geologically rich world

with colossal chasms, a multitude of craters and a humongous dark splotch in the northern regions.

It's obviously quite different in appearance and varies in composition from its larger host.

Indeed the largest of Charon's chasms stretches farther than Earth's Grand Canyon.(...) 

Read the rest of Charon Up Close Reveals Colossal Chasms and Craters: 1 Day and 1 Million Miles Out from Pluto Flyby

Kirk, Spock and Sulu Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before — Charon!
by BOB KING on AUGUST 3, 2015

This image contains the initial, informal names being used by the New Horizons team

for the features on Pluto’s largest moon, Charon. Names were selected based on the input 

the team received from the Our Pluto naming campaign. Names have not yet been approved by the

 International Astronomical Union (IAU). Click for a large pdf file.

 Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

PLUTO’S CHARON GETS MOUNTAINS NAMED AFTER SCI-FI AUTHORS OCTAVIA BUTLER
AND ARTHUR C. CLARKE, AS WELL AS MANY OTHERS FROM HISTORY AND LEGEND. I APPROVE!
Article written: 13 Apr , 2018 Updated: 14 Apr , 2018 by Matt Williams

Map projection of Charon, the largest of Pluto’s five moons, annotated with its first set of official feature names.
 With a diameter of about 1215 km, the France-sized moon is one of largest known objects in the Kuiper Belt,
 the region of icy, rocky bodies beyond Neptune.
 Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

Global map of Pluto’s moon Charon pieced together from images taken at different resolutions.
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

Charon in Enhanced Color

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft captured this high-resolution enhanced color view of Charon 

just before closest approach on July 14, 2015. The image combines blue, red and infrared images taken 

by the spacecraft’s Ralph/Multispectral Visual Imaging Camera (MVIC); the colors are processed to best highlight

 the variation of surface properties.

Image: Mosiac of New Horizons MVIC color observations of Charon obtained during the final 6.4 day rotation 

on approach to the system during July 7-14,2016 shown in polar orthographic projection.

 Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute.

Flying Over Charon

Published on Oct 1, 2015
Images from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft were used to create this flyover video of Pluto's largest moon, Charon.

The “flight” starts with the informally named Mordor (dark) region near Charon’s north pole. The camera then moves south to a vast chasm,

descending from 1,100 miles (1,800 kilometers) to just 40 miles (60 kilometers) above the surface to fly through the canyon system.

 From there it’s a turn to the south to view the plains and "moat mountain," informally named Kubrick Mons, a prominent peak 

 surrounded by a topographic depression. 

New Horizons Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) photographs showing details at up to 400 meters per pixel were used to

create the basemap for this animation. Those images, along with pictures taken from a slightly different vantage point by the

 spacecraft’s Ralph/ Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC), were used to create a preliminary digital terrain (elevation) model.

 The images and model were combined and super-sampled to create this animation.

Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI/Stuart Robbins
Category
Science & Technology
License
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A fine view of Pluto’s largest moon Charon and its vast canyon system. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

Looking over Charon’s dark north polar region, the border of which is highlighted by several beautiful rayed craters.

Not that it’s necessarily related, but the dark spot reminds me of a lunar mare or sea. On the moon, cracks in the crust

 allowed lava to fill gigantic basins to create the maria. Could material from beneath Charon have bubbled up to fill an

 ancient impact? Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

Speaking of the Moon, the large cracks at left resemble lunar rills, some of which formed through

 faulting / fracturing and others as conduits for lava flows. The multiple, fine cracks  are interesting.

 Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

Splendid rayed crater with an interesting contrast between dark and light ejecta. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

SA busy region on Charon, the meeting place of different terrains. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

Splendid rayed crater with an interesting contrast between dark and light ejecta. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

Charon’s Twin ‘Star Wars’ Craters Are Distinctly Different; New Horizons Continues Toward KBO by NANCY ATKINSON on OCTOBER 30, 2015

This composite image is based on observations from the New Horizons Ralph/LEISA instrument made

 at 10:25 UT (6:25 a.m. EDT) on July 14, 2015, when New Horizons was 50,000 miles (81,000 kilometers) from Charon.

 Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute.

Final Approach to Pluto

Countdown to discovery! Not since Voyager 2’s flyby of Neptune in 1989 

have we flung a probe into the frozen outskirts of the Solar System.

 Speeding along at 30,800 miles per hour New Horizons will pierce the Pluto system like a smartly aimed arrow. (...) 

Is That a Big Crater on Pluto? Pyramidal Mountain Found on Ceres
by BOB KING on JUNE 30, 2015

Pluto with its enigmatic “crater” photographed on June 27.

 The apparent row of three depressions near the bottom of the globe are most likely artifacts from processing.

 Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

PLUTO:COMING INTO FOCUS

The latest photo of Pluto (lower left) and its largest moon Charon taken on June 29.

 A large possible crater-like feature is visible at lower right.

 Charon shows intriguing dark markings. Pluto’s diameter is 1,471 miles (700 miles smaller than Earth’s Moon);

 Charon is 750 miles across. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

ICE CAP on PLuto

Pluto: The 'Other' Red Planet

“Now the unique colors and characteristics of its varied terrains are coming into view,"

said Simon Porter, a member of the New Horizons Geology and Geophysics team. Added Alex Parker,

a member of the New Horizons Composition team, "Pluto's largest dark spot is clearly more red than

 the majority of the surface, while the brightest area appears closer to neutral gray."

Scientists hope to learn more about the cause of Pluto’s reddish tint as New Horizons closes in for its July 14 flyby.

10 days of approach - 06201015 - 07011205

Images showing the increase in detail from late June through July 1, 2015

 as New Horizons homes in on Pluto. That possible big crater (seen in bottom middle photo)

 now looks more like a large, dark patch, BUT we still don’t know for sure what it is.

 Credit: NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI / Björn Jónsson

Latest Images of Pluto from New Horizons(Early 07/2015)

These are the most recent high-resolution views of Pluto sent by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft,

including one showing the four mysterious dark spots on Pluto that have captured the imagination of the world.

 The Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) obtained these three images between July 1 and 3 of 2015,

 prior to the July 4 anomaly that sent New Horizons into safe mode.

New Horizons mission releases new map of Pluto
July 08, 2015)

Credits: NASA-JHUAPL-SWRI

The latest map of Pluto, made from images taken by the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI)

instrument aboard New H
although mission scientists admit we are still at the "man in the moon" stage of imaging.

The Huge Heart of Pluto 

Pluto’s “Heart” is seen in this new image from New Horizons’ Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI)

received on July 8, 2015 after normal science operations resumed following the scary July 4 safe mode anomaly

that briefing shut down all science operations. The LORRI image has been combined with lower-resolution color

information from the Ralph instrument. Credits: NASA-JHUAPL-SWRI

Emotions are rising exponentially with the rousing revelation that Pluto has a huge ‘Heart’

 as revealed in stunning new imagery received just today (July 8) from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft –

 which has also officially started its intensive flyby campaign merely 5 days out from humanity’s history making 

first encounter with the last unexplored planet in our Solar System on Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Scientists Captivated By Pluto’s Emerging Geological Wonders
by BOB KING on 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 km) away. 

This annotated version shows the large dark feature nicknamed “the whale” 

that straddles Pluto’s equator, a swirly band and a curious polygonal outline.

 At lower is a reference globe showing Pluto’s orientation in the image,

 with the equator and central meridian in bold.

 Credit: NASA-JHUAPL-SWRI

Last, Best Look at Pluto’s Far Side and Four Perplexing Spots: 2 Days Out from Flyby by Ken Kremer on July 11, 2015

New Horizons’ last look at Pluto’s Charon-facing hemisphere reveals the highest resolution view 

of four intriguing darks spots for decades to come. This image, taken early the morning of July 11, 2015,

shows newly-resolved linear features above the equatorial region that intersect, suggestive of polygonal shapes.

This image was captured when the spacecraft was 2.5 million miles (4 million kilometers) from Pluto.

 Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI

Is There Life on Pluto?
by MATT WILLIAMS on JULY 12, 2015

Artist’s illustration of Pluto, showing the tenuous atmosphere that has so far defied explanations. Credit: NASA/New Horizons

Pluto – Just Look at the Detail!
by BOB KING on JULY 14, 2015

Wow and more wow! In this photo taken yesterday July 14, the large, heart-shaped region 

is front and center. Several craters are seen and much of the surface looks reworked or altered rather than ancient. 

Resolution is 4 km per pixel. Click for high-res view.

 Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI

Day of the Flyby

NASA’s New Horizons Makes Major Discoveries: Young Ice Mountains on Pluto and Crispy Young Chasms on Charon by KEN KREMER on JULY 15, 2015

Chasms, craters, and a dark north polar region are revealed in this image of Pluto's largest moon Charon 

taken by New Horizons on July 11, 2015. The annotated version includes a diagram showing

Charon's north pole, equator, and central meridian, with the features highlighted. Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI 


In the final days before humankinds first ever flyby of mysterious and tantalizing Pluto for the history making up 

close visit on Tuesday, July 14, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has just delivered the sharpest and most stunning 

view yet of its binary companion Charon – and unveiled it to be a geologically rich world with colossal chasms,

 a multitude of craters and a humongous dark splotch in the northern regions. It's obviously quite different in appearance 

Art Meets Science in New Pluto Aerial Tour

New close-up images of a region near Pluto’s equator reveal a giant surprise

 — a range of youthful mountains rising as high as 11,000 feet (3,500 meters)

 above the surface of the icy body. Credits: NASA/JHU APL/SwRI

“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.”

Chasms, craters, and a dark north polar region are revealed in this

 image of Pluto’s largest moon Charon taken by New Horizons on July 11, 2015.

 Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI

Hi Res mosaic of ‘Tombaugh Regio’ shows the heart-shaped region on Pluto

 and focuses on icy mountain ranges of ‘Norgay Montes’ and ice plains of ‘Sputnik Planum.’

 The new mosaic combines highest resolution imagery captured by NASA’s New Horizons LORRI imager

 during history making closest approach flyby on July 14, 2015, draped over a wider,

 lower resolution view of Tombaugh Regio. Inset at left shows possible wind streaks.

 Inset at right shows global view of Pluto with location of huge heart-shaped region in context.

 Annotated with place names. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI/ Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com 

This annotated view of a portion of Pluto’s Sputnik Planum (Sputnik Plain),

 named for Earth’s first artificial satellite, shows an array of enigmatic features.

 The surface appears to be divided into irregularly shaped segments that are ringed by narrow troughs,

 some of which contain darker materials. Features that appear to be groups of mounds and fields 

 of small pits are also visible. This image was acquired by the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) 

 on July 14 from a distance of 48,000 miles (77,000 kilometers). Features as small as a half-mile (1 kilometer) 

 across are visible. Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI

“Mysterious Mountain Revealed in First Close-up of Pluto’s Moon Charon
by KEN KREMER on JULY 16, 2015

This new image of an area on Pluto’s largest moon Charon has a captivating feature

 — a depression with a peak in the middle, shown here in the upper left corner of the inset.

 The image shows an area approximately 240 miles (390 kilometers) from top to bottom, including few visible craters.

 The image was taken at approximately 6:30 a.m. EDT on July 14, 2015, about 1.5 hours before closest approach to Pluto, 

 from a range of 49,000 miles (79,000 kilometers).

 Credits: NASA-JHUAPL-SwRI

Pluto’s Moons Nix and Hydra Get Real / New Pluto Mountain Range Discovered by BOB KING on JULY 21, 2015

Pluto’s moon Nix (left), shown here in enhanced color, has a reddish spot that has attracted the interest of mission scientists.

The photo was taken on July 14, 2015 when New Horizons was about 102,000 miles (165,000 km) from Nix 

and shows features as small as about 2 miles (3 km) across. Hydra (right) was photographed with the LORRI instrument

 from a distance of about 143,000 miles (231,000 km). Features as small as 0.7 miles (1.2 km) are visible.

 Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

A newly discovered mountain range lies near the southwestern margin of Pluto’s Tombaugh Regio (Tombaugh Region), 

situated between bright, icy plains and dark, heavily-cratered terrain (left).

 This image taken on July 14, 2015 from a distance of 48,000 miles (77,000 km) and received on Earth on July 20.

 Features as small as a half-mile (1 km) across are visible.

Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI

See Pluto’s Icy Flow Plains and Mountains Revealed in Highest Resolution Flyover Mosaic and Movie by KEN KREMER on JULY 26, 2015

Highest resolution mosaic of ‘Tombaugh Regio’ shows the heart-shaped region on 

Pluto focusing on ice flows and plains of ‘Sputnik Planum’ at top and icy mountain ranges of 

‘Hillary Montes’ and ‘Norgay Montes’ below. This new mosaic combines the seven highest resolution images 

captured by NASA’s New Horizons LORRI imager during history making closest approach flyby on July 14, 2015.

 Inset at right shows global view of Pluto with location of mosaic and huge heart-shaped region in context.

 Annotated with place names. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI/ Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com

Pluto’s Moon Nix by MATT WILLIAMS on SEPTEMBER 3, 2015

Artist’s impression of Pluto and its moons.

 Credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute

New Pluto Images Show Possible Dunes, Crepuscular Rays, Unimaginable Complexity
by NANCY ATKINSON on SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

This new mosaic of Pluto is from the latest high-resolution images sent to Earth from the 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 

informally called Sputnik Planum. The entire expanse of terrain seen in this image is 1,100 miles (1,800 kilometers) across. 

The images were taken as New Horizons flew past Pluto on July 14, 2015, from a distance of 50,000 miles (80,000 kilometers).

 Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

Global Pluto Mosaic From New Hi Res Imagery Reveals Bewildering Diversity and Complexity
by KEN KREMER on SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

This new global mosaic view of Pluto was created from the latest high-resolution images to be downlinked from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft

and released on Sept. 11, 2015. The images were taken as New Horizons flew past Pluto on July 14, 2015, from a distance 

of 50,000 miles (80,000 kilometers). This new mosaic was stitched from over two dozen raw images captured by the LORRI imager and colorized.

 Credits: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com

Highest resolution mosaic of ‘Tombaugh Regio’ shows the heart-shaped region on Pluto 

including ice flows and plains of ‘Sputnik Planum’ (center) and icy mountain ranges of ‘Hillary Montes’ and ‘Norgay Montes.’

This new mosaic combines the eleven highest resolution images captured by NASA’s New Horizons LORRI imager

 during history making closest approach flyby on July 14, 2015. It shows features as small as 0.5 miles (0.8 kilometers) in size.

 Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI/Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/Marco Di Lorenzo

This new mosaic of Pluto is from the latest high-resolution images sent to Earth 

from the 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 informally called Sputnik Planum. The entire expanse of terrain seen in this image is 1,100 miles (1,800 kilometers) 

across. The images were taken as New Horizons flew past Pluto on July 14, 2015, from a distance of 50,000 miles (80,000 kilometers). 

Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

Pluto - TERMINATOR

This image of Pluto from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, processed in two different ways, shows how Pluto’s bright,

high-altitude atmospheric haze produces a twilight that softly illuminates the surface before sunrise and after sunset,

 allowing the sensitive cameras on New Horizons to see details in nighttime regions that would otherwise be invisible.

 The right-hand version of the image has been greatly brightened to bring out faint details of rugged haze-lit topography

 beyond Pluto’s terminator, which is the line separating day and night.

 The image was taken as New Horizons flew past Pluto on July 14, 2015, from a distance of 50,000 miles (80,000 kilometers).

 Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

Pluto - Global Labeled Mosaic

This new global mosaic view of Pluto was created from the latest high-resolution images to be downlinked from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft

and released on Sept. 11, 2015. The images were taken as New Horizons flew past Pluto on July 14, 2015, from a distance 

of 50,000 miles (80,000 kilometers). This new mosaic was stitched from over two dozen raw images captured by the LORRI imager and colorized.

 Annotated with informal place names.

 Credits: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com

 

 

Doctor Kremer's website

Dr. Ken Kremer's website

Astonishing ‘Snakeskin’ Textured Mountains Discovered on Pluto by KEN KREMER on SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

This color image of Pluto taken by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft shows rounded and bizarrely textured mountains,

informally named the Tartarus Dorsa, that rise up along Pluto’s terminator and show intricate but puzzling patterns of 

blue-gray ridges and reddish material in between. This view, roughly 330 miles (530 kilometers) across, combines blue, red and 

infrared images taken by the Ralph/Multispectral Visual Imaging Camera (MVIC) on July 14, 2015, and resolves details and colors

 on scales as small as 0.8 miles (1.3 kilometers). Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI

 

 

The image resolves details and colors on scales as small as 0.8 miles (1.3 kilometers).

High-resolution images of Pluto taken by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft just before closest approach on July 14, 2015,

 reveal features as small as 270 yards (250 meters) across, from craters to faulted mountain blocks, to the textured surface 

 of the vast basin informally called Sputnik Planum. Enhanced color has been added from the global color image.

 This image is about 330 miles (530 kilometers) across. For optimal viewing, zoom in on the image on a larger screen.

 Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI

 

 

High-resolution images of Pluto taken by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft just before closest approach on July 14, 2015,

are the sharpest images to date of Pluto’s varied terrain—revealing details down to scales of 270 meters. 

In this 75-mile (120-kilometer) section of the taken from a larger, high-resolution mosaic, the textured surface

of the plain surrounds two isolated ice mountains. 

Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI

 

 

Pluto - Farewell view of PLuto's "Atmosphere"

Pluto Spectacular! Glaciers, Hazes, Majestic Peaks Revealed in New Photos by BOB KING on SEPTEMBER 17, 2015

Only 15 minutes after its closest approach to Pluto on July 14, 2015, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft

 looked back toward the sun and captured this near-sunset view of the rugged, icy mountains and flat ice plains 

 extending to Pluto’s horizon. The smooth expanse of the informally named icy plain Sputnik Planum (right)

 is flanked on the left by rugged mountains up to 11,000 feet (3,500 meters) high, including the informally named Norgay Montes 

 in the foreground and Hillary Montes on the skyline. To the right, east of Sputnik,

 rougher terrain is cut by apparent glaciers. The backlighting highlights over a dozen layers of haze

 in Pluto’s tenuous but distended atmosphere. The image was taken from a distance of 11,000 miles (18,000 km).

 Be sure to click for a large version to better see the details described.

Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

Just look at those pyramidal mountain peaks right next to those relatively smooth, icy plains. 

The backlighting highlights more than a dozen layers of haze in Pluto’s tenuous but distended atmosphere.

The image was taken from a distance of 11,000 miles (18,000 km) to Pluto; the scene is 230 miles (380 km)

 across.

Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI)

 

In this small section of the larger crescent image of Pluto, the setting sun illuminates a bank of fog or low-lying near-surface haze

sliced by the parallel shadows of many local hills and small mountains. The image was taken from a distance of 11,000 miles (18,000 km),

and the width of the image is 115 miles (185 km).

Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

 

Thousands of Pits Punctuate Pluto’s Forbidding Plains in Latest Photos
by BOB KING on OCTOBER 16, 2015

Rows of small pits pockmark the ice in Sputnik Planum on Pluto in this latest photo returned 

by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft shortly before closest approach to Pluto on July 14, 2015.

 Could these divots be caused by sublimating nitrogen ice? It resolves details as small as 270 yards (250 meters) 

 and the scene is about 130 miles (210 km) across. Click on this and all the images for high resolution views.

Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI
 

This wider view shows the snakeskin-like textured surface of Pluto’s icy plains riddled 

with small pits. It almost looks like the dark areas in the sinuous channels between the mounds were once 

covered with frost or ice that has since sublimated away. They look similar to the polar regions on Mars where carbon 

dioxide frost burns off in the spring to reveal darker material beneath.

 Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI
 

In this small section of the larger crescent image of Pluto, the setting sun illuminates a bank of fog or low-lying near-surface haze

sliced by the parallel shadows of many local hills and small mountains. The image was taken from a distance of 11,000 miles (18,000 km),

and the width of the image is 115 miles (185 km).

Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

 

ILife’s definitely the pits on Pluto’s Tombaugh Regio. This photo shows the fainter “ghost” pits well.

 Is ice filling them in or are we seeing the beginning of a pit’s formation?

 Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI
 

Psychedelic Pluto

New Horizons scientists made this false color image of Pluto using a technique called principal component analysis

to highlight the many subtle color differences between Pluto's distinct regions. The image data were collected by the spacecraft’s

Ralph/MVIC color camera on July 14 at 11:11 AM UTC, from a range of 22,000 miles (35,000 kilometers).

This image was presented by Will Grundy of the New Horizons’ surface composition team on Nov. 9 at the Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS)

meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in National Harbor, Maryland.

Image Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

Christmas Pluto

Pluto gets into the holiday spirit, decked out in red and green. This image was produced by the New Horizons composition team, 

using a pair of Ralph/LEISA instrument scans obtained at approximately 9:40 AM on July 14, from a mean range of 67,000 miles (108,000 kilometers).

The resolution is about 7 kilometers per LEISA pixel. Three infrared wavelength ranges (2.28-2.23, 1.25-1.30 and 1.64-1.73 microns)

were placed into the three color channels (red, green and blue, respectively) to create this false color Christmas (2015)portrait.

Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI
Last Updated: Dec. 24, 2015
Editor: Bill Keeter

NASA has released hundreds of photos of the Pluto system since the flyby in July,
but a handful of them have supremely psychedelic. A new video released today is no exception.

Possible Ice Volcanoes Discovered on Pluto by KEN KREMER on NOVEMBER 10, 2015

Ice Volcanoes on Pluto?
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 its sides. The rim of the summit depression also shows concentric fracturing.

New Horizons scientists believe that this mountain and another, Piccard Mons, could have been formed by the ‘cryovolcanic’ eruption

of ices from beneath Pluto’s surface. 

Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

Scientists using New Horizons images of Pluto’s surface to make 3-D topographic maps

have discovered that two of Pluto’s mountains, informally named Wright Mons and Piccard Mons,

could possibly be ice volcanoes. The color is shown to depict changes in elevation,

with blue indicating lower terrain and brown showing higher elevation; green terrains are at intermediate heights.

 Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

Locations of more than 1,000 craters mapped on Pluto by NASA’s New Horizons mission indicate a wide range of surface ages,

 which likely means that Pluto has been geologically active throughout its history. 

 Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

New Horizons’ Best View of Pluto’s Craters, Mountains and Icy Plains

Published on Dec 4, 2015
This movie is composed of the sharpest views of Pluto that NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft obtained

during its flyby on July 14, 2015. The pictures are part of a sequence taken near New Horizons’ closest approach to Pluto,

with resolutions of about 250-280 feet (77-85 meters) per pixel – revealing features smaller than half a city block on Pluto’s

diverse surface. The images include a wide variety of cratered, mountainous and glacial terrains –

 giving scientists and the public alike a super-high resolution view of Pluto’s complexity.


Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

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        Science & Technology
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Our Highest Resolution Views Yet of Pluto’s Surface
by Nancy Atkinson on December 6, 2015

The New Horizons spacecraft has been slowly sending back all the images and data 

it gathered during its July flyby of the Pluto system. The latest batch of images to arrive here

 on Earth contains some of the highest resolution views yet that it captured of Pluto’s surface,

 taken during the spacecraft’s closest approach.

Pluto’s Badlands: Erosion and faulting has sculpted portions of Pluto’s icy crust into rugged badlands.

The prominent 1.2-mile-high cliff at the top, running from left to upper right, is part of a great canyon system 

that stretches for hundreds of miles across Pluto’s northern hemisphere.

 Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute.

Layered Craters and Icy Plains: Pluto’s rugged, icy cratered plains include layering in the interior walls of many craters.

Layers in geology usually mean an important change in composition or event, but at the moment New Horizons team members

do not know if they are seeing local, regional or global layering.

 Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute.

New Horizons Yields Wealth of Discovery

From possible ice volcanoes to twirling moons, NASA’s New Horizons science team is discussing more than 

50 exciting discoveries about Pluto at this week’s 47th Annual Meeting of the American Astronomical Society’s Division

for Planetary Sciences in National Harbor, Maryland.

“X” MARKS THE SPOT OF CONVECTIVE CHURNING ON HOT PLUTO 8 Jan , 2016 by Ken Kremer

“X” marks the spot in this image transmitted to Earth on Dec. 24, 2015 from the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI)

from NASA’s New Horizons’ showing the highest-resolution swath of Pluto at the center of Sputnik Planum,

the informally named plain that forms the left side of Pluto’s “heart.” The pattern of polygonal cells stems from the slow 

thermal convection of the nitrogen-dominated ices. Also visible is a a dirty block of water ice “floating” in denser solid nitrogen. 

Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

This mosaic of images from the LORRI camera was returned on Dec. 24, 2015 and extends New Horizons’

 highest-resolution swath of Pluto to the center of the informally named Sputnik Planum.

 Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

NEW HORIZONS LATEST FIND: FLOATING ICE HILLS ON PLUTO! 9 Feb , 2016 by Matt Williams

The latest photographs from the New Horizons mission have revealed hills of water ice that ‘float’

 in a sea of frozen nitrogen and move slowly over time, like icebergs.

 Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

The nitrogen ice glaciers on Pluto appear to carry an intriguing cargo: numerous, isolated hills that may be fragments of water ice 

from Pluto’s surrounding uplands. These hills individually measure one to several miles or kilometers across, according to images

 and data from NASA’s New Horizons mission.

Pluto’s Sputnik Planum, showing the swirl-shaped patterns of light and dark that suggest a

 surface layer of flowing, exotic ices. 

 Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

SPOTLIGHT ON PLUTO’S FROZEN POLAR CANYONS
27 Feb , 2016 by Bob King

This enhanced color view Long canyons run vertically across the polar area—part of 

the informally named Lowell Regio, named for Percival Lowell, who founded Lowell Observatory 

and initiated the search that led to Pluto’s discovery. The widest of the canyons is about 45 miles (75 kilometers)

 wide and runs close to the north pole. Roughly parallel subsidiary canyons to the east and west are 

 approximately 6 miles (10 kilometers) wide.
 

 

Annotated version showing sinuous valleys, canyons and depressions and irregular-shaped pits.

 Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SRI with additional annotations by the author

Cropped version with arrows pointing to three, odd-shaped pits that may reflect sinking of Pluto’s crust.

 Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SRI

>

The new map shows exposed water ice at Pluto to be considerably more widespread across 

its surface than was previously known. Its greatest concentration lies in the red-hued regions (in visual light)

 to the west of Tombaugh Regio, the large, heart-shaped feature.

 Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SRI

This map of the left side of Pluto’s heart-shaped feature uses colors to represent Pluto’s varied terrains, which helps scientists understand the complex geological processes at work.
Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI -
  See more

Pluto’s informally-named Sputnik Planum region is mapped, with the key indicating a wide variety of units or terrains.
Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI -
  See more

SCIENTISTS ASSEMBLE FRESH GLOBAL MAP OF PLUTO COMPRISING SHARPEST FLYBY IMAGES

NASA’s New Horizons mission science team has produced this updated panchromatic
(black-and-white) global map of Pluto.
Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI

This new shaded relief view of the region surrounding the left side of Pluto’s heart-shaped feature –
informally named Sputnik Planum – shows that the vast expanse of the icy surface is on average 2 miles
(3 kilometers) lower than the surrounding terrain. Angular blocks of water ice are “floating”
in the bright deposits of softer, denser solid nitrogen.
Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

Pluto’s ‘Halo’ Craters

Within Pluto’s informally named Vega Terra region is a field of eye-catching craters
that looks like a cluster of bright halos scattered across a dark landscape. - See more

New Horizons’ best close-up of Pluto’s surface
NASA / JHUAPL / SWRI PRESS RELEASE
29 May 2016 Astronomy Now

The rugged dark highlands of Pluto as revealed by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft at 80 metres (260 feet)
per pixel resolution during its close flyby of 14 July 2015. Click the image to see the full mosaic strip and zoom in.
Image credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI.

New Horizons: Imagining a Landing on Pluto

Published on Jul 14, 2016 Imagine a future spacecraft following New Horizons’ trailblazing path to Pluto, but instead of flying past its target,
the next visitor touches down in the midst of tall mountains on the icy plains of Pluto’s heart.
There’s no need to wait for that fantasy trip, thanks to new video produced by New Horizons scientists.
Made from more than 100 New Horizons images taken over six weeks of approach and close flyby, the video offers a “trip” to Pluto.
It starts with a distant spacecraft’s view of Pluto and its largest moon, Charon – closing the distance day by day –
with a dramatic “landing” on the shoreline of Pluto’s frozen plains. “Just over a year ago, Pluto was just a dot in the distance,” said New Horizons Principal Investigator Alan Stern,
of the Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colorado. “This video shows what it would be like to ride aboard an approaching spacecraft
and see Pluto grow to become a world, and then to swoop down over its spectacular terrains as if we were approaching some future landing.”
Image credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI Category Science & Technology License Standard YouTube Licens

LATEST RESULTS FROM NEW HORIZONS: CLOUDS ON PLUTO, LANDSLIDES ON CHARON
Article Updated: 18 Oct , 2016 by Nancy Atkinson

This image of haze layers above Pluto’s limb was taken by the Ralph/Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC)
on NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft. About 20 haze layers are seen; the layers have been found to typically extend horizontally
over hundreds of kilometers, but are not strictly parallel to the surface. For example, scientists note a haze layer
about 3 miles (5 kilometers) above the surface (lower left area of the image), which descends to the surface at the right.
Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI.

Candidates for possible clouds on Pluto, in images from the New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager
and Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera, during the spacecraft’s July 2015 flight through the Pluto system.
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

Signs of a long run-out landslide on Pluto’s largest moon, Charon. This perspective view of Charon’s
informally named Serenity Chasm shows a 200-meter thick lobate landslide that runs up against a 6 km high ridge.
The images were taken by New Horizons, Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) and Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC)
during the spacecraft’s July 2015 flyby of the Pluto system.
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

HERE’S THE HIGHEST RESOLUTION MAP OF PLUTO WE’LL GET FROM NEW HORIZONS

Color mosaic map of Pluto's surface, created from the New Horizons many photographs. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

Global mosaics of Pluto and Charon projected at 300 meters (985 feet)
per pixel have been assembled from most of the highest resolution images obtained
by the Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) and the Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC)
onboard New Horizons. Transparent, colorized stereo topography data generated for the encounter
 hemispheres of Pluto and Charon have been overlain on the mosaics. Terrain south of about 30°S
 on Pluto and Charon was in darkness leading up to and during the flyby, so is shown in black.
 “S” and “T” respectively indicate Sputnik Planitia and Tartarus Dorsa on Pluto, and
 “C” indicates Caleuche Chasma on Charon. All feature names on Pluto and Charon are informal.
Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI/LPI
Last Updated: July 14, 2017
Editor: Bill Keeter

HEY MAP COLLECTORS, HERE’S A NEW MAP OF PLUTO!

View from the surface of Pluto, showing its large moon Charon in the distance. Credit: New York Times

Global mosaic of Pluto, based on images obtained by the LORRI and MVIC instruments onboard New Horizons. Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI/LPI

Global mosaic of Charon, based on images obtained by the LORRI and MVIC instruments onboard New Horizons. Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI/LPI

New Horizons Flyover of Pluto

Published on Jul 14, 2017
Using actual New Horizons data and digital elevation models of Pluto and its largest moon Charon, mission
 scientists have created flyover movies that offer spectacular new perspectives of the many unusual features
 that were discovered and which have reshaped our views of the Pluto system – from a vantage point even closer than the spacecraft itself.
This dramatic Pluto flyover begins over the highlands to the southwest of the great expanse of nitrogen ice plain
informally named Sputnik Planitia. The viewer first passes over the western margin of Sputnik, where it borders the dark,
 cratered terrain of Cthulhu Macula, with the blocky mountain ranges located within the plains seen on the right.
 The tour moves north past the rugged and fractured highlands of Voyager Terra and then turns southward over Pioneer Terra
 -- which exhibits deep and wide pits -- before concluding over the bladed terrain of Tartarus Dorsa in the far east of the encounter hemisphere.
Digital mapping and rendering were performed by Paul Schenk and John Blackwell of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston.
Category
Science & Technology
License
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New Horizons Flyover of Charon

Published on Jul 14, 2017
Using actual New Horizons data and digital elevation models of Pluto and its largest moon Charon,
 mission scientists have created flyover movies that offer spectacular new perspectives of the
 many unusual features that were discovered and which have reshaped our views of the Pluto system –
 from a vantage point even closer than the spacecraft itself.
The exciting flight over Charon begins high over the hemisphere New Horizons saw on its closest approach,
then descends over the deep, wide canyon of Serenity Chasma. The view moves north, passing over Dorothy Gale crater
 and the dark polar hood of Mordor Macula. The flight then turns south, covering the northern terrain of Oz Terra
 before ending over the relatively flat equatorial plains of Vulcan Planum and the “moated mountains” of Clarke Montes.
Digital mapping and rendering were performed by Paul Schenk and John Blackwell of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston.
Category
Science & Technology
License
Standard YouTube License

Scientists Discover New Facts About Pluto And Its Moons

P L U T O --- F A R E W E L L
Flowing Ice, Exotic Mountains and Backlit Haze Highlight Pluto as Never Seen Before
by KEN KREMER on JULY 24, 2015

Backlit by the sun, Pluto's atmosphere rings its silhouette like a luminous halo

in this image taken by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft around midnight EDT on July 15. 

This global portrait of the atmosphere was captured when the spacecraft was about 

1.25 million miles (2 million kilometers) from Pluto and shows structures as small as 12 miles across. 

The image, delivered to Earth on July 23, is displayed with north at the top of the frame.

Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

Pluto and Charon   a final Portrait

In 2006, the International Astronomical Union, a global group of astronomy experts, established a definition of a planet that required it
 to "clear" its orbit, or in other words, be the largest gravitational force in its orbit.
Since Neptune's gravity influences its neighboring planet Pluto, and Pluto shares its orbit with frozen gases and objects in the Kuiper belt,
 that meant Pluto was out of planet status. However, in a new study published online Wednesday in the journal Icarus,
 UCF planetary scientist Philip Metzger, who is with the university's Florida Space Institute, reported that this standard
 for classifying planets is not supported in the research literature.
Metzger, who is lead author on the study, reviewed scientific literature from the past 200 years and found only one publication -- from 1802 --
 that used the clearing-orbit requirement to classify planets, and it was based on since-disproven reasoning.
He said moons such as Saturn's Titan and Jupiter's Europa have been routinely called planets by planetary scientists since the time of Galileo.
"The IAU definition would say that the fundamental object of planetary science, the planet, is supposed to be a defined on the basis of a concept
 that nobody uses in their research," Metzger said. "And it would leave out the second-most complex, interesting planet in our solar system."
 "We now have a list of well over 100 recent examples of planetary scientists using the word planet in a way that violates the IAU definition,
 but they are doing it because it's functionally useful," he said. "It's a sloppy definition," Metzger said of the IAU's definition.
 "They didn't say what they meant by clearing their orbit. If you take that literally, then there are no planets, because no planet
 clears its orbit."
The planetary scientist said that the literature review showed that the real division between planets and other celestial bodies,
such as asteroids, occurred in the early 1950s when Gerard Kuiper published a paper that made the distinction based on how they were formed.
However, even this reason is no longer considered a factor that determines if a celestial body is a planet, Metzger said.
Study co-author Kirby Runyon, with Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, said the IAU's definition
 was erroneous since the literature review showed that clearing orbit is not a standard that is used for distinguishing asteroids from planets,
 as the IAU claimed when crafting the 2006 definition of planets.
"We showed that this is a false historical claim," Runyon said. "It is therefore fallacious to apply the same reasoning to Pluto,"
he said. Metzger said that the definition of a planet should be based on its intrinsic properties, rather than ones that can change,
such as the dynamics of a planet's orbit. "Dynamics are not constant, they are constantly changing," Metzger said. "So, they are
not the fundamental description of a body, they are just the occupation of a body at a current era."
Instead, Metzger recommends classifying a planet based on if it is large enough that its gravity allows it to become spherical in shape.
"And that's not just an arbitrary definition, Metzger said. "It turns out this is an important milestone in the evolution of a planetary body,
 because apparently when it happens, it initiates active geology in the body."
Pluto, for instance, has an underground ocean, a multilayer atmosphere, organic compounds, evidence of ancient lakes and multiple moons,
 he said.
"It's more dynamic and alive than Mars," Metzger said. "The only planet that has more complex geology is the Earth."

Future of this Mission

“TOO COOL-- RTs! New Infographic from New Horizons.: The Kuiper Belt, the Solar System's Third Zone.”

NASA's New Horizon Mission page

How NASA Is Steering New Horizons Toward
a Tiny Space Rock in the Kuiper Belt

In a series of four fuel burns completed today, New Horizons has closed a gap

 of more than 3.5 million miles between its trajectory and MU69’s orbit.

 The graphic above exaggerates the distance traveled between each burn to show the impact

 of each course correction. At a proper scale relative to the nearly 870 million mile distance

 remaining between New Horizons and Pluto, the four burns would appear to be stacked directly on top of one another.

CREDIT THEN ONE/WIRED

Orbits of Pluto and PT1, New Horizons' flyby targets

NASA and New Horizons team pick post-Pluto target … by ALAN BOYLE on AUGUST 28, 2015

An artist’s conception shows the New Horizons spacecraft flying past a

Pluto-like object in the Kuiper Belt, the ring of icy material that lies billions of miles away from the sun.

(Credit: Alex Parker / NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI)

Pluto's Post Mission Map Proposal

This chart shows the path of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft toward its next potential target,

the Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69, also known as PT1. Other dwarf planets are indicated on the chart as well.

(Credit: Alex Parker / NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI)

NASA Approves New Horizons Extended KBO Mission,(July 2016)

New Horizons trajectory and the orbits of Pluto and 2014 MU69.

New Horizons Maneuvers Toward Potential Kuiper Belt Target
by NANCY ATKINSON on OCTOBER 27, 2015

Artist’s impression of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft encountering a Pluto-like object in the distant Kuiper Belt.

(Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/Steve Gribben)

New Horizons Takes Closest Image Ever of a Kuiper Belt Object
by NANCY ATKINSON on DECEMBER 4, 2015

New Horizons’ Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) took this image on Nov. 2, 2015

 of a 90-mile (150-kilometer)-wide ancient Kuiper Belt Object named 1994 JR1, moving against a background of stars. 

 Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

Pluto Probe Spots Distant Dwarf Planet Quaoar (Photos)
By Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer | August 31, 2016 03:12pm ET

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft captured this image of the dwarf planet Quaoar in July 2016, 

from a distance of 1.3 billion miles (2.1 billion kilometers).
Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

NASA's New Horizons probe captured these images of the dwarf planet Quaoar on July 13-14, 2016,

 from a distance of 1.3 billion miles (2.1 billion kilometers).
Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

A BORED NEW HORIZONS SPACECRAFT TAKES PART TIME JOB TO FILL THE TIME

Artist's impression of New Horizons' close encounter with the Pluto–Charon system.
 Credit: NASA/JHU APL/SwRI/Steve Gribben

Measuring the light from the Cosmic Optical Background is a way to test cosmological models
 that explain how the structure and evolution of the Universe.
 Credit: 2MASS/Caltech

Image: In preparation for the New Horizons flyby of 2014 MU69 on Jan. 1, 2019,
 the spacecraft’s Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) took a series of 10-second exposures
 of the background star field near the location of its target Kuiper Belt object (KBO).
 This composite image is made from 45 of these 10-second exposures taken on Jan. 28, 2017.
 The yellow diamond marks the predicted location of MU69 on approach,
 but the KBO itself was too far from the spacecraft (877 million kilometers) even for LORRI’s telescopic “eye”
 to detect. New Horizons expects to start seeing MU69 with LORRI in September of 2018 – and the team will use
 these newly acquired images of the background field to help prepare for that search on approach.
 Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

n July of 2015, NASA’s New Horizons mission made history when it became the first spacecraft
 to conduct a flyby of Pluto. Since that time, the spacecraft’s mission was extended
 so it could make its way farther into the outer Solar System and become the first spacecraft
 to explore some Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs). It’s first objective will be the KBO known as 2014 MU69,
 which was recently given the nickname “Ultima Thule” (“ultima thoo-lee”).

Artist’s impression of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft encountering 2014 MU69 (aka. Ultima Thule)
 on Jan. 1st, 2019. Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI/Steve Gribben
 
As Hal Weaver, the New Horizons project scientist and LORRI principal investigator
 from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL), explained in a recent NASA press release:

Image: Ultima Thule as seen at 6.47 billion kilometers (4.01 billion miles) from the Sun
 and 3.87 million kilometers (2.4 million miles) from the New Horizons spacecraft
 . Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute.

On December 31st, 2018, NASA and the New Horizon‘s team (plus millions of people watching the live stream at home)
 rang in the New Year by watching the New Horizons mission make the first rendezvous in history with a Kuiper Belt Object (KBO).
 About thirty minutes after the probe conducted its flyby of Ultima Thule (2014 MU69), the mission controllers were treated
 to the first clear images ever taken of a KBO.

Composite of two images (left) taken by New Horizons’ high-resolution Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI)
 and an artist’s impression (right) of Ultima Thule’s appearance
 . Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI; sketch courtesy of James Tuttle Keane

The first color image of Ultima Thule, taken at a distance of 137,000 km (85,000 mi)
at 04:08 am UTC on January 1st, 2019.
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

This movie shows the propeller-like rotation of Ultima Thule in the seven hours between 20:00 UT (3 p.m. ET) on Dec. 31, 2018,
 and 05:01 UT (12:01 a.m.) on Jan. 1, 2019, as seen by the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) aboard NASA's New Horizons
 as the spacecraft sped toward its close encounter with the Kuiper Belt object at 05:33 UT (12:33 a.m. ET) on Jan. 1.
During this deep-space photo shoot – part of the farthest planetary flyby in history – New Horizons' range to Ultima Thule
decreased from 310,000 miles (500,000 kilometers, farther than the distance from the Earth to the Moon)
 to just 17,100 miles (28,000 kilometers), during which the images became steadily larger and more detailed.
All the images have been sharpened using scientific techniques that enhance detail. The original image scale
is 1.5 miles (2.5 kilometers) per pixel in the first frame, and 0.08 miles (0.14 kilometers) per pixel in the last frame.
 The rotation period of Ultima Thule is about 16 hours, so the movie covers a little under half a rotation.
 Among other things, the New Horizons science team will use these images to help determine the three-dimensional
 shape of Ultima Thule, in order to better understand its nature and origin.
This image sequence corrects for the changing distance, so that Ultima Thule (officially named 2014 MU69) appears
 at constant size but becomes more detailed as the approach progresses.

Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

[The video loops four times]

NEW: #UltimaThule, now in higher-res! 📸 Both lobes now show many intriguing light & dark patterns of unknown origin,
which may reveal clues about how it was assembled during the formation of the #solarsystem!
Credit: John Hopkins University

Artist’s concept of Kuiper Belt object Ultima Thule, which was based on telescope observations
 made at Patagonia, Argentina on July 17, 2017, when MU69 passed in front of a star.
 Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI/Alex Parker

NEW: #UltimaThule, now in higher-res! 📸 Both lobes now show many intriguing light & dark patterns of unknown origin,
which may reveal clues about how it was assembled during the formation of the
#solarsystem! Credit:John Hopkins University's Applied Physics Lab.

On December 31st, 2018, NASA’s New Horizons mission made history by being the first spacecraft 
to rendezvous with the Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) named Ultima Thule (2014 MU69). 
This came roughly two and a half years after New Horizons became the first mission 
in history to conduct a flyby of Pluto. This latest encounter led to some stunning images 
of the KBO as the spacecraft made it’s approach.

Mission scientists created this "departure movie" from 14 different images taken by the New Horizons 
Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) shortly after the spacecraft flew past the Kuiper Belt 
object nicknamed Ultima Thule (officially named 2014 MU69) on Jan. 1, 2019. 
The central frame of this sequence was taken on Jan. 1 at 05:42:42 UT (12:42 a.m. EST),
 when New Horizons was 5,494 miles (8,862 kilometers) beyond Ultima Thule, 
 some 4.1 billion miles (6.6 billion kilometers) from Earth. The object’s illuminated crescent is blurred 
 in the individual frames because a relatively long exposure time was used during this rapid scan to boost 
 the camera’s signal level –  but the science team combined and processed the images to remove the blurring
 and sharpen the thin crescent. This is the farthest movie of any object in our Solar System ever made by any spacecraft. 
The images reveal an outline of the “hidden” portion of the Ultima Thule that was not illuminated by the Sun 
as the spacecraft zipped by, but can be “traced out” because it blocked the view to background stars also in the image.
Credits: NASA/Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/National Optical Astronomy Observatory

Flyby images of Ultima Thule taken by the New Horizons probe on Jan. 1st, 2019.
 Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI/NOAO

Got your 3D glasses handy? Then prepare for the most realistic views of Ultima Thule yet!
 Yes, it seems that every few weeks, there’s a new image of the Kuiper Belt Object (KBO)
 that promises the same thing. But whereas all the previous contenders were higher-resolution images
 that allowed for a more discernible level of detail, these images are the closest
 we will get to seeing the real thing up close!

For this view, change your focus from the image by looking “through” it and into the distance.
 This will create the illusion of a third image in the middle; try setting your focus on that.
 Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI/NOAO

For this view, cross your eyes until the pair of images merges into one.
 Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI/NOAO

This animation depicts a shape model of Ultima Thule created by the New Horizons science 
team based on its analysis of all the pre-flyby images sent to Earth so far.
 The first half of the movie mimics the view from the New Horizons spacecraft
 as it approached Ultima Thule and has the “snowman” shape that was so frequently 
 mentioned in the days surrounding the New Year’s 2019 flyby. 
The movie then rotates to a side-view that illustrates what New Horizons might have seen had
 its cameras been pointing toward Ultima Thule only a few minutes after closest approach.
 While that wasn’t the case, mission scientists have been able to piece together a model 
 of this side-view, which has been at least partially confirmed by a set of crescent images 
 of Ultima Thule (link). There is still considerable uncertainty in the sizes of 
 “Ultima” (the larger section, or lobe) and “Thule” (the smaller) in the vertical 
 dimension, but it’s now clear that Ultima looks more like a pancake than a sphere, and that Thule is also very non-spherical.
The rotation in this animation is not the object’s actual rotation, but is used purely to illustrate its shape. 
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

More space news and info at: - the farthest object ever explored 
is slowly revealing its secrets, as scientists piece together the puzzles of Ultima Thule – 
the Kuiper Belt object NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft flew past on New Year’s Day, four billion miles from Earth.

The SwRI-developed Pluto orbital tour design shows scientific objectives can be met with only
tiny fuel resources and numerous gravity assists using Pluto’s giant moon Charon.
 Credit: Southwest Research Institute.

What sort of missions are we talking about? Amanda Zangari’s separate study for this group has looked
at the 45 largest Kuiper Belt objects and dwarf planets (covering “the most desirable and scientifically interesting targets”)
 with launches possible between 2025 and 2040. How these trajectories might be accomplished is presented
 in a paper that has been accepted by the Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets.

This figure depicts an electric propulsion spacecraft leaving Pluto orbit, flying by other small Kuiper Belt
objects and then reaching the dwarf planet 2002 MS4 as just one example of the “gold standard” Pluto orbiter-Kuiper Belt
explorer mission discovered by the SwRI study team. Credit: Southwest Research Institute.

We’ll need a good name for the Pluto orbiter/Kuiper Belt explorer mission, so start thinking about it
now as we begin hoping that such a mission will be funded. Back to Stern for the conclusion: