LONDON: NASA has released the first “near-true” color videos of Pluto and its largest natural satellite Charon, captured by the New Horizons probe approaching the dwarf planet.The two newly released videos show the complex orbital interaction of the two bodies.
According to New Horizons Principal Investigator Alan Stern with the Southwest Research Institute (SWRI), although the videos are low resolution, viewers can see the two bodies separately. The videos also show the different colors of the two bodies — Pluto being beige-orange and Charon, grey.
“It’s exciting to see Pluto and Charon in motion and in color. Even at this low resolution, we can see that Pluto and Charon have different colors—Pluto is beige-orange, while Charon is grey. Exactly why they are so different is the subject of debate.”
NASA says that New Horizons’ closest approach to Pluto at a distance of 7,800 miles (12,500 kilometers) will occur on July 14.
New Horizons, as the name of the mission implies, is breaking new grounds in human space exploration, being the first to make the 3 billion-mile journey to Pluto and the Kuiper belt beyond the planet Neptune.
The close approach of the probe to the surface of the planet will resolve many questions about Pluto’s terrain and atmosphere. The mission will also help to shed light on the mysteries of the dwarf planet’s natural satellites or moons.
According to NASA, the color videos were created from a set of images captured May 29-June 3 by the Multicolor Visible Imaging Camera’s Ralph instrument in blue, red and near-infrared, as the New Horizons probe approached Pluto.
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