This 3-D image of Pluto, which requires red/blue stereo glasses for viewing (click the picture for a full-screen version), shows a region 180 miles (300 kilometres) across, centred near longitude 130°E, latitude 20°N (the red square in the global context image). North is to the upper left. The image shows an ancient, heavily cratered region of Pluto, dotted with low hills and cut by deep fractures indicating extension of Pluto’s crust. Image credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI.Global stereo mapping of Pluto’s surface is now possible, as images taken from multiple directions are downlinked from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft. Stereo images will eventually provide an accurate topographic map of most of the hemisphere of Pluto seen by New Horizons during the 14 July flyby, which will be key to understanding Pluto’s geological history.
This example, which requires red/blue stereo glasses for viewing, shows a region 180 miles (300 kilometres) across, centered near longitude 130°E, latitude 20°N (the red square in the global context image). North is to the upper left. The image shows an ancient, heavily cratered region of Pluto, dotted with low hills and cut by deep fractures indicating extension of Pluto’s crust.
Analysis of these stereo images shows that the steep fracture in the upper left of the image is about 1 mile (1.6 kilometres) deep, and the craters in the lower right part of the image are up to 1.3 miles (2.1 kilometres) deep. Smallest visible details are about 0.4 miles (0.6 kilometres) across.
NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has delivered the closest-yet views of Ceres, showing the dwarf planet’s surface in unprecedented detail — including the small world’s mysterious four-mile-high conical mountain. At its current orbital altitude, Dawn takes 11 days to capture and return images of Ceres’ whole surface at a resolution of 450 feet (140 metres) per pixel.
Pluto is thought to possess a subsurface ocean, which is not so much a sign of water as it is a tremendous clue that other dwarf planets in deep space also may contain similarly exotic oceans, naturally leading to the question of life, said one co-investigator with NASA’s New Horizon.
In a tantalising preview of what the surface of Pluto’s largest moon will look like in sharper future close-ups from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, this image from 1.5 hours before closest approach shows a depression with a peak in the middle.
