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> Pluto seen by New Horizons

Pluto seen by New Horizons

author: Nasa/JHUAPL/SRI/Novapix

reference: a-plu03-00020

Image Size 300 DPI: 8 * 8 cm

Pluto nearly fills the frame in this image from the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) aboard NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, taken on July 13, 2015, when the spacecraft was 476,000 miles (768,000 kilometers) from the surface. This is the last and most detailed image sent to Earth before the spacecraft's closest approach to Pluto on July 14. The color image has been combined with lower-resolution color information from the Ralph instrument that was acquired earlier on July 13. This view is dominated by the large, bright feature informally named the "heart"Â which measures approximately 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) across. The heart borders darker equatorial terrains, and the mottled terrain to its east (right) is complex. However, even at this resolution, much of the heart's interior appears remarkably featureless -- possibly a sign of ongoing geologic processes This view is centered roughly on the area that will be seen close-up during New Horizons' July 14 closest approach. This side of Pluto is dominated by three broad regions of varying brightness. Most prominent are an elongated dark feature at the equator, informally known as "the whale," and a large heart-shaped bright area measuring some 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers) across on the right. Above those features is a polar region that is intermediate in brightness.

Keywords for this photo:

134340 PLUTO - 2015 - ASTRONOMY - DWARF PLANET - GLOBAL VIEW - NEW HORIZONS - PLUTO - PLUTOID - TNO - TRANSNEPTUNIAN OBJECT -