Tag: New Horizons probe
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Astronomers give their official blessing to the first batch of place names on Pluto
Pluto’s first official surface-feature names are marked on this map, compiled from images and data gathered by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft during its flight through the Pluto system in 2015. (IAU Map) Some of the best-known places on Pluto, including the heart-shaped Tombaugh Regio, have finally gone legit. But lots of other places, such as…
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Astronomers give their official blessing to the first batch of place names on Pluto
Pluto’s first official surface-feature names are marked on this map, compiled from images and data gathered by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft during its flight through the Pluto system in 2015. (IAU Map) Some of the best-known places on Pluto, including the heart-shaped Tombaugh Regio, have finally gone legit. But lots of other places, such as…
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IAU and New Horizons science team make peace over the names on Pluto’s map
A composite image shows enhanced-color views of Pluto (lower right) and Charon (upper left). Credit: NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI It’s taken a year and a half, but the International Astronomical Union and the science team behind NASA’s New Horizons mission have finally struck a deal for naming the features on Pluto and its moons.…
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New Horizons probe finishes transmitting data from Pluto flyby after 15 months
An artist’s conception shows the New Horizons spacecraft beaming data back to Earth. (Credit: NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI) More than 15 months after NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft flew past Pluto, the last bit of data captured during the flyby has finally been transmitted back to Earth. NASA said the final transmission was a digital segment…
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How deep does Pluto’s ocean go? Would you believe nine times deeper than Earth’s?
The left side of Pluto’s bright “heart” is known informally as Sputnik Planum. (Credit: NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI) Scientists have been saying for months that Pluto could have a salty, sloshing ocean beneath its icy surface, but now they’ve worked out just how deep it could go. The answer? As deep as 60 miles,…
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How Pluto’s methane turned into red ‘spray paint’ on its biggest moon Charon
NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft captured this high-resolution, enhanced color view of Pluto’s largest moon, Charon, just before closest approach on July 14, 2015. Scientists have learned that reddish material in the north (top) polar region – informally named Mordor Macula – is chemically processed methane that escaped from Pluto’s atmosphere onto Charon. (Credit: NASA /…
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Outdated ‘Pluto: Not Yet Explored’ stamp takes spotlight as most traveled postage
The 1991 stamp that served as the rallying cry for the New Horizons Mission to Pluto is “updated” by members of the New Horizons science team on July 14, 2015, the day the spacecraft reached Pluto. (Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA) We’ve known for years that a 1991 Pluto stamp included on NASA’s New Horizons…
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One year after Pluto flyby, New Horizons mission looks back and looks ahead
A composite image shows enhanced-color views of Pluto (lower right) and Charon (upper left). Credit: NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI One year ago today, NASA’s New Horizons probe whizzed past Pluto and opened up a new frontier for planetary science – and to mark the occasion, the mission team is looking back at its greatest hits and…
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NASA extends New Horizons mission to Kuiper Belt, tells Dawn to stay at Ceres
Artwork shows the New Horizons probe flying by a Kuiper Belt object known as 2014 MU69. (Credit: NASA) Almost a year after New Horizons’ unprecedented flyby of Pluto, NASA has given the official go-ahead for the probe to fly past another icy object in the Kuiper Belt in 2019. At the same time, the space agency…
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New Horizons provides the best close-up of Pluto some of us might ever see
Craters and linear features are scattered across Pluto’s terrain in this high-resolution view from NASA’s New Horizons probe. (Credit: NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI) Almost a year after NASA’s New Horizons probe flew past Pluto, the team behind the mission has put together a long mosaic strip that includes all of the highest-resolution images. “This…