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New Horizons Captures First Color Image of Pluto and Charon
192_kbps writes: NASA published today the first color image of Pluto and Charon captured by the New Horizons probe, revealing a reddish world. "The fastest spacecraft ever launched, New Horizons has traveled a longer time and farther away - more than nine years and three billion miles - than any space mission in history to reach its primary target. Its flyby of Pluto and its system of at least five moons on July 14 will complete the initial reconnaissance of the classical solar system. This mission also opens the door to an entirely new "third" zone of mysterious small planets and planetary building blocks in the Kuiper Belt, a large area with numerous objects beyond Neptune's orbit." The picture is blurry, but far better than the few pixels Hubble can resolve, the image whets the appetite for New Horizon's closest approach on July 14th."
the photo is simply too blurry to be useful (to the avg person)
What use does the average person have for any photo of outer space objects? If its simply to whet the appetite for better cooler stuff to come then its done its job for you right? Me personally I always had an image of pluto being bluish gray from some artists conception I saw when i was 5 or so. To find out it may be red just blew my mind! (sorta) I'd say that was useful to me...of course it didn't make me any money so perhaps you're right after all.
That the photograph is color, able to distinguish the different shades of Pluto and Charon, is _wonderful_ and an exciting hint of more data to come. I'm delighted by the new theories that Pluto may have a subterranean ocean, much like Europa, in recent science essays I've read. The idea that a planet as remote and as poor in solar energy as Pluto could host life in such an ocean is even more amazing, and this new probe could reveal the pre-requisites for life as we know it to exist even on Pluto.
It's wonderful to live in times with such evolution of science and knowledge. I must applaud NASA for realizing that this mission was worth the time and effort and funding to launch it.
Since Pluto-Charon is essentially a double planet, I'd expect the tidal forces to be significant. Of course nothing with keep anything from freezing on the surface, just deep inside.
This space intentionally left blank
It might be an ocean of liquid hydrogen. Hydrogen freezes at about -430F (around -260 C for foreigners), which sounds like it could be about in the ballpark.