On approach in July 2015, the cameras on NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft captured Pluto rotating over the course of a full “Pluto day.” The best available images of each side of Pluto taken during approach have been combined to create this view of a full r (Photo : NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI)
NASA's New Horizons probe successfully completed its encounter with dwarf planet Pluto, although only lasting a few hours as the probe passed by, new images reveal how a full day on Pluto looks like, along with its largest moon, Charon.
Pluto and Charon are considered as a binary system which means they are tidally locked to each other, where the same side of Pluto always faces the same side as Charon's and vice versa. This also means that both of their days last the exact same amount of time. One day for Pluto and Charon lasts for 6.4 Earth days, as New Horizons already captured the binary system as it began its approach.
The recent July flyby just reveals one side of Pluto and Charon, but in these new sequences, the probe began recording observations before its closest approach, showing a glimpse of the binary system's other, far side.
Using its onboard cameras called the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) and Ralph/Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera, the probe was able to capture observations from a distance of 5 million miles away on July 7 to 400,000 miles on July 13. The closest approach was completed on July 14 at a distance of 7,800 miles above Pluto's surface. In this new series of images however, a full day on Pluto and Charon was captured the days following July 13.
The far side of Pluto reveals an odd cluster of impact craters before New Horizons spiralled down to its surface however, mission scientists were only able to obtain this best view from from the dwarf planet's far side.
To date, after the epic flyby, images are now being transmitted from the probe back to Earth, where this series shows how one full day on Pluto is supposed to look like. Prior images already revealed the tiny world's dynamic surface and complex features such as plains, icy mountain ranges and even possible ice volcanoes. New Horizons images also include Pluto's famous "heart" or the Tombaugh Regio.
