Pluto (right) and Charon. This image, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope on February 21st 1994, represents the best view so far of the planet Pluto a

---

Pluto (right) and Charon. This image, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope on February 21st 1994, represents the best view so far of the planet Pluto and its satellite Charon. For the first time astronomers were able to clearly see the discs of the two bodies and then measure directly and accurately Pluto's (2320 km) and Charon's (1270 km) diameters. When the image was taken Pluto was at a distance of billion km from the Earth and the separation between Pluto and Charon 19,640 km. The image shows a bright (white) area parallel to the equator on Pluto; further observations will be required to confirm whether this feature is real.

---

Size: 3431px × 2793px
Photo credit: © NASA/ESA/STSCI/R.ALBRECHT, ST-ECF/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 1994, astronomy, charon, cosmology, dwarf, hst, hubble, image, imagery, planet, planetary, pluto, science