1. Astrogeography of Pluto and Charon From New Horizon Mission Data
TITLE Page: Image of Pluto constructed from 4 individual images and has been altered to increase the color contrast. Sources of data are: NASA/JHU-APL/SWRI, Kelly Beatty, Sky and Telescope, Nov For educational use only.
Arthur C. Tarr
Venus Winds Project
Denver Museum of Nature and Science
13 October 2015
Data sources: NASA/JHU-APL/SWRI; Kelly Beatty, Sky and Telescope, Nov. 2015

2. Dwarf Planet Pluto
Four images from New Horizons’ Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) were combined with color data from the Ralph instrument to create this global view of Pluto. (The lower right edge of Pluto in this view currently lacks high-resolution color coverage.) The images, taken when the spacecraft was 280,000 miles (450,000 kilometers) away, show features as small as 1.4 miles (2.2 kilometers), twice the resolution of the single-image view taken on July 13.

3. Pluto’s Portrait: A Composite of Four False Color Images
INTERESTING FACTOID
Pluto’s diameter is greater
than Kuiper Belt object Eris but its mass is thought to be 28% less than Eris’ mass!
Diameter: 2,370 km
Axial tilt: 51°
Mean temperature: 39K
Atmospheric pressure (surface): 10 microbars
PLUTO (FALSE COLOR): False color has been added to this image of Pluto. The bright white oval-shaped feature is Sputnik Planum (Plateau). It is part of the larger Tombaugh Regio that encompasses the bluish-white regions to the south and south-east of Sputnik Planum. In earlier, less-detailed images prior to this image, these bright areas looked like the shape of a heart. The yellowish-brown tinted areas are thought to be an overlay of organic compounds. The bluish area in the NE and the purplish brown region in the SW are heavily covered with impact craters.

4. Pluto’s Geographic Grid
Prime Meridian
Equator
Four images from New Horizons' Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) were combined with color data from the Ralph instrument to create this enhanced color global view of Pluto. (The lower right edge of Pluto in this view currently lacks high-resolution color coverage.) The images, taken when the spacecraft was 280,000 miles (450,000 kilometers) away, show features as small as 1.4 miles (2.2 kilometers). The geographic grid is preliminary. .

5. Major Geographical Regions Surrounding Sputnik Planum
PIONEER
TERRA
HAYABUSA TERRA
Burney
Crater
VOYAGER
TERRA
VENERA
TERRA
VIKING
TERRA
Sputnik
Planum
Four images from New Horizons’ Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) were combined with color data from the Ralph instrument to create this global view of Pluto. (The lower right edge of Pluto in this view currently lacks high-resolution color coverage.) The images, taken when the spacecraft was 280,000 miles (450,000 kilometers) away, show features as small as 1.4 miles (2.2 kilometers), twice the resolution of the single-image view taken on July 13. .
TOMBAUGH REGIO
CTHULHU REGIO

6. Pluto’s Major Geographical Regions (Cylindrical Projection)
This image contains the initial, informal names being used by the New Horizons team for the features and regions on the surface of Pluto. Names were selected based on the input the team received from the Our Pluto naming campaign. Names have not yet been approved by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).

7. Sputnik Planum
This image contains the initial, informal names being used by the New Horizons team for the features on Pluto’s Sputnik Planum (plain). Names were selected based on the input the team received from the naming campaign. Names have not yet been approved by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).

8. Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)
Chaos, chaoses Distinctive area of broken terrain
Collis, colles Small hills or knobs
Crater, craters Circular depression
Dorsum, dorsa Ridge
Fossa, fossae Long narrow depression
Linea, lineae Dark or bright elongate marking
Macula, maculae Dark spot, may be irregular
Mons, montes Mountain(s)
Planum, plana Plain(s)
Regio, regiones Large area with reflectivity contrasts
Rima, rimae Long narrow valley, fissure or channel
Rupus, rupes Scarp(s)
Terra, terrae Extensive land mass
GAZETTEER OF PLANETARY NOMENCLATURE: Recommended planetary nomenclature prepared by the Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature of the International Astronomical Union (IAU).

9. Northern Sputnik Planum
Hyabusa Terra
Pioneer Terra
Voyager Terra
S P U T N I K P L A N U M
This synthetic perspective view of Pluto, based on the latest high-resolution images to be downlinked from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, shows what you would see if you were approximately 1,100 miles (1,800 kilometers) above Pluto’s equatorial area, looking northeast over the dark, cratered, informally named Cthulhu Regio toward the bright, smooth, expanse of icy plains informally called Sputnik Planum. The entire expanse of terrain seen in this image is 1,100 miles (1,800 kilometers) across. The images were taken as New Horizons flew past Pluto on July 14, 2015, from a distance of 50,000 miles (80,000 kilometers).
F o s s a e
Baré Montes
Hillary Montes
Impact
Craters
V i k i n g T e r r a
Impact Craters

10. Central Sputnik Planum
Challenger Colles
Meandering interconnected channels outline irregular polygons km wide.
Outflow debris field after ice melts.
Hillary Montes and Norgay Montes are at 11,000 feet elevation, too tall to be made of N2 and CH4 ice. They are probably underlain by H2O ice which is very firm.
V I K I N G T E R R A
S P U T N I K
P L A N U M
a l – I d r i s M o n t e s
Mosaic of high-resolution images of Pluto, sent back from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft from Sept. 5 to 7, The image is dominated by the informally-named icy plain Sputnik Planum, the smooth, bright region across the center. This image also features a tremendous variety of other landscapes surrounding Sputnik. The smallest visible features are 0.5 miles (0.8 kilometers) in size, and the mosaic covers a region roughly 1,000 miles (1600 kilometers) wide. The image was taken as New Horizons flew past Pluto on July 14, 2015, from a distance of 50,000 miles (80,000 kilometers). This is a closeup of central Sputnik Planum with adjoining mountainous and heavily cratered terrain al-Idris Montes and Viking Terra. Baré Montes, Hillary Montes, Norgay Montes and Zeng He Montes extend above the relatively smooth surface of Sputnik Planum. A tracery of a faint network of lines under the ice sheet is visible under the western side. These lines become more visible, near the edge, as irregular and discrete blocks. Farther west, the debris is deposited on the al-Idris Montes.
Coleta de Dodoeas
Colles
Zheng He Montes
Hillary Montes
Baré Montes
Norgay
Montes

11. Baré Montes and Vicinity
D u n e F i e l d s ?
D u n e
F i e l d s ?
B a r é M o n t e s
O l d I c e?
M e l t i n g I c e?
This 220-mile (350-kilometer) wide view of Pluto from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft illustrates the incredible diversity of surface reflectivities and geological landforms on the dwarf planet. The image includes dark, ancient heavily cratered terrain; bright, smooth geologically young terrain; assembled masses of mountains; and an enigmatic field of dark, aligned ridges that resemble dunes; its origin is under debate. The smallest visible features are 0.5 miles (0.8 kilometers) in size. This image was taken as New Horizons flew past Pluto on July 14, 2015, from a distance of 50,000 miles (80,000 kilometers).
M e l t i n g I c e?
D u n e s ?

12. Chaos Regio a l – I d r i s i M o n t e s V I K I N G T E R R A
Irregular Polygons
V I K I N G T E R R A
a l – I d r i s i M o n t e s
S P U T N I K P L A N U M
G l a c i a l D e b r i s
Impact Craters
CHAOS REGIO: The distinctive area of broken terrain, al-Idris Montes, is at the extreme western edge of the relatively smooth Sputnik Planum ice sheet. This western edge of the Sputnik Planum is fractured into large, presumably, icy blocks that detach and melt to expose the rugged terrain beneath the former margin of the ice-sheet. Near the center of the image is a depression that appears to be a former glacial outflow lake. West of the al-Idris Montes there is the suggestion of a channel that formed along the former maximum edge of the ice field. This proposed, now abandoned, channel later filled in with progressibly finer debris which, in turn, formed small networks of dunes. In the lower-left corner of the image are numerous craters, some of which are reminiscent of many meteor impacts. This implies that the al-Idris Montes are much younger than the Viking Terra.
Channels
Frozen Lake?

13. Cylindrical Projection Map of Pluto
This cylindrical projection map of Pluto, in enhanced, extended color, is the most detailed color map of Pluto ever made. It uses recently returned color imagery from the New Horizons Ralph camera, which is draped onto a base map of images from the NASA's spacecraft's Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI). The map can be zoomed in to reveal exquisite detail with high scientific value. Color variations have been enhanced to bring out subtle differences. Colors used in this map are the blue, red, and near-infrared filter channels of the Ralph instrument.

14. Water Ice on Pluto SPUTNIK PLANUM VIKING TERRA Baré Montes
Regions with exposed water ice are highlighted in blue in this composite image from New Horizons' Ralph instrument, combining visible imagery from the Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC) with infrared spectroscopy from the Linear Etalon Imaging Spectral Array (LEISA). The strongest signatures of water ice occur along Virgil Fossa, just west of Elliot crater on the left side of the inset image, and also in Viking Terra near the top of the frame. A major out
also occurs in Baré Montes towards the right of the image, along with numerous much smaller outcrops, mostly associated with impact craters and valleys between mountains. The scene is approximately 280 miles (450 kilometers) across. Note that all surface feature names are informal.
C T H U L H U R E G I O

15. Water Ice in the Baré Mountains and Viking Terra
Elliot Crater
Regions with exposed water ice are highlighted in blue in this composite image from New Horizons' Ralph instrument, combining visible imagery from the Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC) with infrared spectroscopy from the Linear Etalon Imaging Spectral Array (LEISA). The strongest signatures of water ice occur along Virgil Fossa, just west of Elliot crater on the left side of the inset image, and also in Viking Terra near the top of the frame. A major outcrop also occurs in Baré Montes towards the right of the image, along with numerous much smaller outcrops, mostly associated with impact craters and valleys between mountains. The scene is approximately 280 miles (450 kilometers) across. Note that all surface feature names are informal.
Virgil Fossa
Baré Montes
CTHULHU REGIO

16. Chemical Components of Sputnik Planum Ice: Methane, Nitrogen, Carbon Monoxide
Within the circled region of Pluto's Sputnik Planum, New Horizons Ralph instrument has detected frozen methane, nitrogen, and carbon monoxide.

17. Nitrogen Escaping Pluto’s Atmosphere
Artist’s concept of the interaction of the solar wind (the supersonic outflow of electrically charged particles from the Sun) with Pluto’s predominantly nitrogen atmosphere. Some of the molecules that form the atmosphere have enough energy to overcome Pluto’s weak gravity and escape into space, where they are ionized by solar ultraviolet radiation. As the solar wind encounters the obstacle formed by the ions, it is slowed and diverted (depicted in the red region), possibly forming a shock wave upstream of Pluto. The ions are “picked up” by the solar wind and carried in its flow past the dwarf planet to form an ion or plasma tail (blue region). The Solar Wind around Pluto (SWAP) instrument on the New Horizons spacecraft made the first measurements of this region of low-energy atmospheric ions shortly after closest approach on July 14. Such measurements will enable the SWAP team to determine the rate at which Pluto loses its atmosphere and, in turn, will yield insight into the evolution of the Pluto’s atmosphere and surface. Also illustrated are the orbits of Pluto’s five moons and the trajectory of the spacecraft.

18. Methane Abundance Ralph/LEISA Infrared Spectrometer
The Ralph/LEISA infrared spectrometer on NASA's New Horizons spacecraft mapped compositions across Pluto's surface as it flew past the planet on July 14, On the left, a map of methane ice abundance shows striking regional differences, with stronger methane absorption indicated by the brighter purple colors, and lower abundances shown in black. Data have only been received so far for the left half of Pluto’s disk. At right, the methane map is merged with higher-resolution images from the spacecraft’s Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI).

19. al-Isidri Montes Terrain (West)
Impact
craters
Faulted mountain blocks
High-resolution images of Pluto taken by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft just before closest approach on July 14, 2015, reveal features as small as 270 yards (250 meters) across, from craters to faulted mountain blocks, to the textured surface of the vast basin informally called Sputnik Planum. Enhanced color has been added from the global color image. This image is about 330 miles (530 kilometers) across.
Impact
craters

20. al-Isidri Montes Terrain (Central)
S p u t n i k P l a n u m
Faulted
mountain
blocks
High-resolution images of Pluto taken by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft just before closest approach on July 14, 2015, reveal features as small as 270 yards (250 meters) across, from craters to faulted mountain blocks, to the textured surface of the vast basin informally called Sputnik Planum. Enhanced color has been added from the global color image. This image is about 330 miles (530 kilometers) across.

21. al-Isidri Montes Terrain (East)
S p u t n i k P l a n u m
Ice
Channels
Ice
Ice
Ice
Coleta de Dodoeas
Colles
High-resolution images of Pluto taken by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft just before closest approach on July 14, 2015, reveal features as small as 270 yards (250 meters) across, from craters to faulted mountain blocks, to the textured surface of the vast basin informally called Sputnik Planum. Enhanced color has been added from the global color image. This image is about 330 miles (530 kilometers) across.
Ice
Channels

22. Surface Details of Sputnik Planum
Textured surface
Channels
Isolated ice mountains
High-resolution images of Pluto taken by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft just before closest approach on July 14, 2015, are the sharpest images to date of Pluto's varied terrain-revealing details down to scales of 270 meters. In this 75-mile (120-kilometer) section taken from the larger, high-resolution mosaic, the textured surface of the plain surrounds two isolated ice mountains.
Coleta de Dodoeas Colles

23. “Snake Skin” on Tartarus Dorsa
Rounded, textured mountains
Blue-gray ridges
In this extended color image of Pluto taken by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, rounded and bizarrely textured mountains, informally named the Tartarus Dorsa, rise up along Pluto's day-night terminator and show intricate but puzzling patterns of blue-gray ridges and reddish material in between. This view, roughly 330 miles (530 kilometers) across, combines blue, red and infrared images taken by the Ralph/Multispectral Visual Imaging Camera (MVIC) on July 14, 2015, and resolves details and colors on scales as small as 0.8 miles (1.3 kilometers).
Reddish material
organics?

24. Pluto’s Haze Layers
Two different versions of an image of Pluto's haze layers, taken by New Horizons as it looked back at Pluto's dark side nearly 16 hours after close approach, from a distance of 480,000 miles (770,000 kilometers), at a phase angle of 166 degrees. Pluto's north is at the top, and the sun illuminates Pluto from the upper right. These images are much higher quality than the digitally compressed images of Pluto's haze downlinked and released shortly after the July 14 encounter, and allow many new details to be seen. The left version has had only minor processing, while the right version has been specially processed to reveal a large number of discrete haze layers in the atmosphere. In the left version, faint surface details on the narrow sunlit crescent are seen through the haze in the upper right of Pluto's disk, and subtle parallel streaks in the haze may be crepuscular rays- shadows cast on the haze by topography such as mountain ranges on Pluto, similar to the rays sometimes seen in the sky after the sun sets behind mountains on Earth.

25. Blue Haze of Sunlight-Initiated Chemical Reactions of Nitrogen and Methane
Pluto's haze layer shows its blue color in this picture taken by the New Horizons Ralph/Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC). The high-altitude haze is thought to be similar in nature to that seen at Saturn’s moon Titan. The source of both hazes likely involves sunlight-initiated chemical reactions of nitrogen and methane, leading to relatively small, soot-like particles (called tholins) that grow as they settle toward the surface. This image was generated by software that combines information from blue, red and near-infrared images to replicate the color a human eye would perceive as closely as possible.
The source of both hazes likely involves sunlight-initiated chemical
reactions of nitrogen and methane, leading to relatively small, soot-like
particles (called tholins) that grow as they settle toward the surface.

26. Haze Layers
Image of Pluto's hazes; false-color inset reveals a variety of structures, including two distinct layers

27. Pluto’s Haze Layers
Just 15 minutes after its closest approach to Pluto on July 14, 2015, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft looked back toward the sun and captured this near-sunset view of the rugged, icy mountains and flat ice plains extending to Pluto's horizon. The smooth expanse of the informally named icy plain Sputnik Planum (right) is flanked to the west (left) by rugged mountains up to 11,000 feet (3,500 meters) high, including the informally named Norgay Montes in the foreground and Hillary Montes on the skyline. To the right, east of Sputnik, rougher terrain is cut by apparent glaciers. The backlighting highlights more than a dozen layers of haze in Pluto’s tenuous but distended atmosphere. The image was taken from a distance of 11,000 miles (18,000 kilometers) to Pluto; the scene is 780 miles (1,250 kilometers) wide.

28. Fog or Near-Surface Haze
In this small section of the larger crescent image of Pluto, taken by NASA's New Horizons just 15 minutes after the spacecraft's closest approach on July 14, 2015, the setting sun illuminates a fog or near-surface haze, which is cut by the parallel shadows of many local hills and small mountains. The image was taken from a distance of 11,000 miles (18,000 kilometers), and the width of the image is 115 miles (185 kilometers).

29. Dwarf Planet Charon
NASA's New Horizons captured this high-resolution enhanced color view of Charon just before closest approach on July 14, The image combines blue, red and infrared images taken by the spacecraft's Ralph/Multispectral Visual Imaging Camera (MVIC); the colors are processed to best highlight the variation of surface properties across Charon. Charon's color palette is not as diverse as Pluto's; most striking is the reddish north (top) polar region, informally named Mordor Macula. Charon is 754 miles (1,214 kilometers) across; this image resolves details as small as 1.8 miles (2.9 kilometers).

30. Charon Topography V u l c a n P l a n u m Canyons & Escarpments Impact
Craters
High-resolution images of Charon were taken by the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, shortly before closest approach on July 14, 2015, and overlaid with enhanced color from the Ralph/Multispectral Visual Imaging Camera (MVIC). Charon's cratered uplands at the top are broken by series of canyons, and replaced on the bottom by the rolling plains of the informally named Vulcan Planum. The scene covers Charon’s width of 754 miles (1,214 kilometers) and resolves details as small as 0.5 miles (0.8 kilometers).
Rolling plains

31. Natural Color Images from the Long Range Reconnaisance Imager (LORRI) with Color Data (Ralph)
Charon
Pluto
Pluto and Charon are shown in a composite of natural-color images from New Horizons. Images from the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) were combined with color data from the Ralph instrument to produce these views, which portray Pluto and Charon as an observer riding on the spacecraft would see them. The images were acquired on July 13 and 14, 2015

32. Comparison of Pluto vs. Charon
A composite of enhanced color images of Pluto (lower right) and Charon (upper left), taken by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft as it passed through the Pluto system on July 14, This image highlights the striking differences between Pluto and Charon. The color and brightness of both Pluto and Charon have been processed identically to allow direct comparison of their surface properties, and to highlight the similarity between Charon's polar red terrain and Pluto's equatorial red terrain. Pluto and Charon are shown with approximately correct relative sizes, but their true separation is not to scale. The image combines blue, red and infrared images taken by the spacecraft's Ralph/Multispectral Visual Imaging Camera (MVIC).
Approximately correct relative sizes
but separation is not to scale