1:41
- ABC News
- July 15, 2015
New Horizons Beams Back Pluto's Close-Ups
NASA reveals most detailed image ever taken of the dwarf planet.
1:41
Zoom into Pluto & discover mountains, seen during yesterday's @NASANewHorizons #PlutoFlyby: http://t.co/6QLXLxiW0ohttps://t.co/toJQ0j7wB6
— NASA (@NASA) July 15, 2015
Traveling at the speed of light, the images took just four hours to cross the 3 billion miles separating New Horizons from Pluto.
According to NASA, this image -- a shot of a region near Pluto's equator -- shows icy mountains reaching as high as 11,000 feet.
Scientists were surprised at the apparent absence of craters on the planet's surface. Presumably, Pluto has been \"bombarded\" by other objects in the Kuiper Belt region. But its lack of craters suggests \"this is a very young surface,\" deputy team leader John Spencer told reporters Wednesday.
The Pluto closeup is the culmination of over a decade of work by the New Horizons team, who launched the spacecraft in 2006.
Today is the day! @NASANewHorizons 1st #PlutoFlyby images revealed at 3pm ET briefing. Watch: http://t.co/KX5g7yYnYG pic.twitter.com/9eK3G8UnTL
— NASA (@NASA) July 15, 2015
New Horizons will spend the next 16 months beaming back data gathered during the flyby.
The probe also took high-resolution photos of Pluto's five moons.
Released today by NASA, this image shows Pluto's largest Moon, Charon. Astronomers have already informally dubbed the dark area near the North Poll \"Mordoor,\" an apparent nod to a territory in J.R.R. Tolkien's \"Lord of the Rings.\"
NEW: Pluto’s largest moon Charon has youthful terrain & dark area nicknamed 'Mordor' in north: http://t.co/fNUDVAOW5h pic.twitter.com/JOWaoD1sdy
— NASA (@NASA) July 15, 2015
Since the \"phone home\" signal on Tuesday, the operations center has been “close to bedlam,” said chief investigator Alan Stern, adding that the influx of data made him feel like a kid in a \"toy store.\"
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