{"id":10752,"date":"2015-06-11T17:32:39","date_gmt":"2015-06-11T21:32:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=10752"},"modified":"2015-06-11T17:32:39","modified_gmt":"2015-06-11T21:32:39","slug":"latest-new-horizons-images-give-hints-of-highly-varied-terrain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=10752","title":{"rendered":"Latest New Horizons images give hints of highly varied terrain"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest images of Pluto from the New Horizons probe<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Different Faces of Pluto Emerging in New Images
\nfrom New Horizons<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The surface of Pluto is becoming better resolved as NASA\u2019s New Horizons spacecraft speeds closer to its July flight through the Pluto system.<\/p>\n

A series of new images obtained by the spacecraft\u2019s telescopic Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) during May 29-June 2 show Pluto is a complex world with very bright and very dark terrain, and areas of intermediate brightness in between. These images afford the best views ever obtained of the Pluto system.<\/p>\n

\"nh-lorri-images-6-1-15[1]\"<\/a><\/p>\n

These images, taken by New Horizons\u2019 Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI), show four different \u201cfaces\u201d of Pluto as it rotates about its axis with a period of 6.4 days. All the images have been rotated to align Pluto’s rotational axis with the vertical direction (up-down) on the figure, as depicted schematically in the upper left.From left to right, the images were taken when Pluto\u2019s central longitude was 17, 63, 130, and 243 degrees, respectively. The date of each image, the distance of the New Horizons spacecraft from Pluto, and the number of days until Pluto closest approach are all indicated in the figure.\u00a0Credits: NASA\/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory\/Southwest Research Institute<\/em><\/div>\n

New Horizons scientists used a technique called deconvolution to sharpen the raw, unprocessed pictures<\/a> that the spacecraft beams back to Earth; the contrast in these latest images has also been stretched to bring out additional details. Deconvolution can occasionally produce artifacts, so the team will be carefully reviewing newer images taken from closer range to determine whether some of the tantalizing details seen in the images released today persist. Pluto\u2019s non-spherical appearance in these images is not real; it results from a combination of the image-processing technique and Pluto\u2019s large variations in surface brightness.<\/p>\n

Since April, deconvolved images from New Horizons have allowed the science team to identify a wide variety of broad surface markings across Pluto, including the bright area at one pole that scientists believe is a polar cap.<\/p>\n