Pluto's Icy Plains
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft transmitted this view of the surface of Pluto, which extends New Horizons' highest-resolution swath of Pluto to the center of the informally named Sputnik Planum, and nearly completes the set of highest-resolution images taken by New Horizons. The pictures are part of a sequence taken near New Horizons' closest approach to Pluto, with resolutions of about 250-280 feet (77-85 meters) per pixel, revealing features smaller than half a city block on Pluto's surface. The images illustrate the polygonal or cellular pattern of the plains, which are thought to result from the convective churning of a deep layer solid, but mobile, nitrogen ice. The images shown here form a strip 50 miles (80 kilometers) wide and more than 400 miles (700 kilometers) long, trending from the northwestern shoreline of Sputnik Planum and out across its icy plains. The surface of Sputnik Planum appears darker toward the shore (at top), possibly implying a change in composition or surface texture. The occasional raised, darker blocks at the cell edges are probably dirty water "icebergs" that are floating in denser solid nitrogen.
Size: 900px × 9329px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 2015, astronomical, astronomy, body, bw, celestial, deep, dwarf, exploration, heavenly, horizons, ice, icy, mission, nasa, nitrogen, object, plain, plains, planet, planum, pluto, science, sky, solar, space, sputnik, surface, system, universe, water
