Brilliant planetary halo: Behold, Pluto bathed in ring of resplendent light
A new high-resolution image from NASA , and it鈥檚 beautiful.
NASA released an initial image of the tiny, distant former planet's crescent in September, but that photograph, taken by the New Horizons spacecraft during its journey past Pluto in June, was blurry and incomplete.
Images from the historic flyby have been arriving on Earth in dribs and drabs for the past several months, and each one has been a聽"stunning reminder of how radically鈥� years [of interstellar exploration] have changed humanity鈥檚 understanding of its cosmic neighborhood,鈥� according to 海角大神's Pete Spotts.
In other words, as we continue to explore the farthest reaches of our solar system, the more we learn not only about those distant planets, but also, perhaps, about their similarity to Earth.
The new photograph from NASA shows what Pluto looks like when the dwarf planet is illuminated by the sun. Although the sun is about three billion miles from Pluto, it still gives a transcendent glow to Pluto鈥檚 Sputnik Planum, an icy plane on Pluto鈥檚 lower right and considered part of Pluto鈥檚 鈥渉eart,鈥� or the region south of Pluto鈥檚 equator that has a distinct heart shape.
It also showed blurry stars that moved out of focus as New Horizons positioned its camera to obtain a better view of Pluto, and reveals Pluto鈥檚 atmospheric layers 聽鈥� comprised of nitrogen and other gases 鈥� in all their hazy and beautiful detail.
The newly better-focused image gave scientists at NASA enough understanding to see Pluto鈥檚 pitted terrain, and even name two of the craters that dance across its surface, one of which is filled with ammonia and the other with water. Perhaps in anticipation of the new 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� movie, , after the science fiction series' Luke and Leia.聽
