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New Horizons Returns Best Images of Pluto's Moons Hydra and Nix
An anonymous reader writes: Over the weekend, the New Horizons probe sent back more data from Pluto, including two of the best images we'll get of its small moons Nix and Hydra. Nix measures about 42km long by 36km wide, and has a large reddish spot on it. The resolution allows us to see features about 3km across. Hydra is slightly bigger, and the pictures were taken with a different instrument, so resolution is a bit better. "Although the overall surface color of Nix is neutral grey in the image, the newfound region has a distinct red tint. Hints of a bull's-eye pattern lead scientists to speculate that the reddish region is a crater. ... Meanwhile, the sharpest image yet received from New Horizons of Pluto's satellite Hydra shows that its irregular shape resembles the state of Michigan. ...Although the overall surface color of Nix is neutral grey in the image, the newfound region has a distinct red tint. Hints of a bull's-eye pattern lead scientists to speculate that the reddish region is a crater." Images have been taken of Styx and Kerberos, the most recently discovered moons of Pluto, but they won't be transmitted back for a while, yet.
NASA has also released an image of a mountain range inside Pluto's heart-shaped region.
If anyone is confused, Hydra is .81 Rhode Islands and Nix is .55 Rhode Islands.
"Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
Combining multiple high res adjacent pictures here.
This is magnificent - I count at least ten different types of terrain in just this tiny part of Pluto. What a world.
And IMHO it looks even more like subglacial liquids at play now.
"You see, Government is a system that is based on weapons." -- Timster