Pluto in true colours, photographed by New Horizons
Pluto in true colours, photographed by New Horizons
Seeing something previously hidden from human eyes is one of the most exciting experiences for anyone. The scientists in NASA’s New Horizons mission learned what it feels like when their spacecraft reached its destination, the dwarf planet Pluto, after a voyage of over nine years. New Horizons transmitted this first high-resolution image of the celestial body to Earth from a distance of 4.8 billion kilometres on 13 July 2015 (the actual Pluto flyby took place on 14 July). Before that, telescope images had yielded just dim differences in brightness on what was once the ninth planet, which measures 2,400 kilometres in diameter. But a multifaceted, icy world was revealed to the researchers, one that took shape over four billion years ago but that has experienced changes due to dynamic processes, even in its recent geological past. Pluto 'showed its heart': the outline of the area later named 'Tombaugh Regio' after the scientist who first identified Pluto, generated a real media storm.
