Pluto at Night
Explanation:
The night side of Pluto spans
this shadowy scene.
In the stunning spacebased perspective the Sun is 4.9 billion kilometers
(almost 4.5 light-hours) behind the dim and distant world.
It was captured by far flung
New
Horizons in July of 2015
when the spacecraft was at a range of some 21,000 kilometers from Pluto,
about 19 minutes after its closest approach.
A denizen
of the
Kuiper Belt
in dramatic silhouette, the image also reveals Pluto's tenuous, surprisingly
complex layers of
hazy atmosphere.
Near the top of the frame
the crescent
twilight landscape includes
southern areas of nitrogen ice plains now formally known as
Sputnik
Planitia
and
rugged mountains
of water-ice in the Norgay Montes.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
