CANADA: NASA has released two images showcasing a full rotation of the dwarf planet Pluto and its unusually large moon Charon. The observations combined to create the mosaics were captured as the spacecraft made its high velocity pass of the dwarf planet using the probe’s Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) and Ralph/Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera.
A day on Pluto lasts for roughly 6.4 Earth-days, which is roughly the same amount of time that it takes Charon to orbit its parent planet. Since her encounter with Pluto, New Horizons has succeeded in characterizing the enigmatic dwarf planet in stunning detail, revealing a surprisingly complex and diverse atmospheric and surface environment.
The images of Pluto vary noticeably in definition, with the most detailed image featuring at the 6 o’clock position, and the blurriest at the 3 o’clock mark. The disparity in image quality results from New Horizons’ rapid approach to Pluto between July 7 – 13, during which time the probe closed on the dwarf planet by roughly 5 million miles.
Note also that the distinctive dimples that mark the lower region of the dwarf planet in the images are not true geographical features, but rather artifacts that occur as a by product of stitching together multiple images to create a global mosaic.
