Newest Pluto pics show day in life of dwarf planet
The New Horizons spacecraft snapped a series of 10 close-ups representing one Pluto day or 6.4 Earth days in July 2015.
Reporting from CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s newest Pluto pictures depict an entire day on the dwarf planet.
The space agency released a series of 10 close-ups of the frosty, faraway world Friday, representing one full rotation, or Pluto day. A Pluto day is equivalent to 6.4 Earth days.
The New Horizons spacecraft snapped the pictures as it zoomed past Pluto in an unprecedented flyby in July. Pluto was between 400,000 and 5 million miles from the camera for these photos.
This photo taken by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft shows images of Charon, the largest of Pluto’s five moons, representing one full rotation during an unprecedented flyby in July 2015.
A similar series of shots were taken of Pluto’s jumbo moon, Charon. But the Pluto pictures stand out much more because of the orb’s distinct heart-shaped region. Scientists call the heart Tombaugh Regio, after the U.S. astronomer who discovered Pluto in 1930.
New Horizons is now headed to a new target.
ALSO
Why we need a new definition of the word ‘planet’
SpaceX wins NASA deal to fly astronauts to space station
Massive El Niño gains strength, likely to drench key California drought zone
