29/06/2024
The sharpest image of Pluto's surface 🤯
This remarkable image captures Pluto's surface features in unprecedented detail, taken by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft in July 2015 and released later that year. After a journey spanning nearly a decade and covering 4.8 billion kilometers, New Horizons made its historic flyby of the dwarf planet.
During its closest approach, New Horizons came within about 12,500 kilometers of Pluto's surface, providing crystal-clear views of mountains, craters, and ice fields at a resolution better than 80 meters per pixel. This specific image reveals the meeting point of Sputnik Planum, a smooth icy basin partially covered with nitrogen ice extending towards the equator, and the rugged Al-Idrisi Montes mountain range in Pluto's northern hemisphere.
New Horizons' Telescopic Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager offered unprecedented high-resolution views, unveiling the geological wonders of Pluto.
Credit: NASA/JPL-JHU/SWRI
