Pluto based on data received during New Horizons flyby, researchers

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LONDON: A massive team of researchers has published the first paper about Pluto based on data received during the New Horizons flyby.
Up to and during its historic Pluto flyby on July 14 this year, space probe New Horizons collected some 50 gigabits of data. This is probably going to occupy researchers for years to come. Today, the first study has landed, revealing Pluto as an unexpectedly complex and idiosyncratic dwarf planet. Over 150 authors contributed to the paper.
“The Pluto system surprised us in many ways, most notably teaching us that small planets can remain active billions of years after their formation,” said first author Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute. “We were also taught important lessons by the unexpected degree of geological complexity that both Pluto and its large moon Charon display.”
The paper, published in the journal Science, examines in particular Pluto’s complex and varied surface geology, and the behaviour of its moons, Charon, Nyx and Hydra.
Researchers already knew that Pluto’s surface was diverse in colour. Flyby images show regions that are dark red, pale blue, golden and white. Now researchers have discovered that this colour diversity is indicative of diversity in Pluto’s surface composition. The research also reveals a surprisingly broad variety of landforms and terrain ages on Pluto’s surface.