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CNET is reporting Beautiful new photos of Pluto show terrain, atmosphere.
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has long since passed by Pluto, and is currently 4.96 billion kilometers (4.59 light hours) from Earth. But things are not over with yet. It is still sending back data and images from its flyby. On Earth we have the hydrological cycle in Greenland and the South Pole where water evaporates, falls as snow, builds up glaciers, which then flow out to restart the cycle. It appears that something very similar is happening on Pluto, but because of the incredibly frigid temperatures, this process is occurring with frozen Nitrogen.
NASA has stunning pictures and more complete descriptions.
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Beautiful New Photos of Pluto Show Terrain, Atmosphere
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Frankfort, Kentucky, makes it against the law to shoot off a policeman's tie.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 19 2015, @08:17PM
This picture: http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/nh-apluto-wide-9-17-15-final_0.png [nasa.gov]
It might be the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. The amount of variety is amazing: even the atmosphere is full of detail. Artistically in interesting across several scales (No other of the original 9 planets has topology big enough to be interesting in such a view), and the overall portions are great. And the semantics of the image: the fact that this is Pluto, that we managed to get this picture, is mind blowing. There is so much mystery, and so much information. I'm so glad I got to see this: thanks so much to everyone throughout history, and this in the present, who made this possible.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 20 2015, @01:55AM
What are those 5 vertical streaks of light - 3 to the right and 2 to the left - surface to air missiles?
(Score: 2) by Techwolf on Sunday September 20 2015, @02:38AM
Background stars. If you look close enough, there is more in the background of the same length.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 20 2015, @06:03AM
This suggests the probe took a timed exposure (dim sun out there), and the probe was carefully aimed to keep the cameras on the same general spot of Pluto while moving. it's one fast probe.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 20 2015, @06:20AM
Wouldn't that be interesting if they could get a color version of this? I suspect there was too much on the itinerary to get good multi-filtered shots, but you never know. There's still a lot to download. Lots of good stuff still to come...