NEW HORIZONS CONTINUES TO SEND AMAZING PICTURES
by Hazed
Ten days after the New Horizons spacecraft flew past Pluto and its moons, we are getting even more data, including pictures of the dwarf planet’s smaller moons, Nix and Hydra. You can see them at the first source link below, and read about what we discovered about them.
We have learnt that the “heart” which showed up on early images has another range of ice mountains, at its lower-left edge. We have discovered flowing ice on the planet. We have seen a stunning image of the nightside of Pluto (see the second link below).
New Horizons has now stopped looking at Pluto, and is heading out towards the furthest reaches of the Solar System, where it will fly through the Kuiper Belt, but it’s going to keep on sending back the information it has gleaned so far. We can expect to be enthralled for months to come.
Source: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/new-horizons-captures-two-of-plutos-smaller-moons
http://www.nasa.gov/feature/stunning-nightside-image-reveals-pluto-s-hazy-skies
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-33622408
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/newhorizons/main/index.html
