LONDON: As the New Horizons spacecraft approaches Pluto, the dwarf planet become ever more fascinating — and now it’s tantalizing scientists with a strange string of dark spots across its surface
The four spots are all about 300 miles wide, and why they would all be around the same size and why so regularly spaced along the planet’s equator, is unclear, those scientists say.
Unfortunately, NASA researchers say, the string of dark patches are on the hemisphere New Horizons will not be looking at during its closest flyby of the planet on July 14.
However, they say, the space probe will have plenty of chances to examine them in the days leading up to that close encounter.
Nothing like it has been seen on any other planet in our solar system, they note.
“It’s a real puzzle — we don’t know what the spots are, and we can’t wait to find out,” says mission principal investigator Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado.
NASA has released true color images of Pluto and its largest moon, Charon.
That’s presented another mystery, Stern says — the dramatic difference in the color and appearance of Pluto when compared with the much darker and grayer Charon.
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