Pluto and Charon as never seen before

July 15, 2015 Stephen Clark

A spectacular sampling of imagery from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft reveals mountains and water ice bedrock on Pluto, an active crust on its largest moon Charon and the first resolved views of the icy world’s tiny mini-moons.

A snapshot of Pluto shows fresh deposits of water ice bedrock and 11,000-foot mountains, revealing evidence Pluto's surface is one of the youngest in the solar system. Photo credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI
A snapshot of Pluto shows fresh deposits of water ice bedrock and 11,000-foot mountains, revealing evidence Pluto’s surface is one of the youngest in the solar system. Photo credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI
New Horizons found few craters on the surface of Pluto's Texas-sized moon Charon, evidence of recent geologic activity. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI
New Horizons found few craters on the surface of Pluto’s Texas-sized moon Charon, evidence of recent geologic activity. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI
Tuesday's New Horizons flyby revealed Pluto's tiny moon Hydra. The first resolved image of the object shows it to be 28 miles long and 19 miles in diameter, and better images are to come. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI
Tuesday’s New Horizons flyby revealed Pluto’s tiny moon Hydra. The first resolved image of the object shows it to be 28 miles long and 19 miles in diameter, and better images are to come. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI

Email the author.

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.

Related Articles

News

New Horizons calls home

July 14, 2015 Stephen Clark

A long-awaited radio signal from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft landed on planet Earth late Tuesday, confirming the faraway space probe performed as expected during a one-shot flyby of Pluto at the solar system’s outer frontier.