New Horizons: Possible clouds on Pluto, next target is Reddish

Oct 19, 2016, at 09:44 pm

Washington, Oct 19 (IBNS): Hubble Space Telescope data suggests that 2014 MU69, a small Kuiper Belt object (KBO) about a billion miles (1.6 billion kilometers) beyond Pluto, is as red, if not redder, than Pluto. This is the first hint at the surface properties of the far flung object that New Horizons will survey on Jan 1, 2019.

Pluto 'paints' its largest moon red

Sep 15, 2016, at 03:22 pm

California, Sept 15 (IBNS): In June 2015, when the cameras on NASA’s approaching New Horizons spacecraft first spotted the large reddish polar region on Pluto’s largest moon, Charon, mission scientists knew two things: they’d never seen anything like it elsewhere in our solar system, and they couldn’t wait to get the story behind it.

Hubble discovers moon orbiting the dwarf planet makemake

Apr 27, 2016, at 02:50 pm

Washington, Apr 27 (Just Earth News/IBNS) Peering to the outskirts of our solar system, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has spotted a small, dark moon orbiting Makemake, the second brightest icy dwarf planet — after Pluto — in the Kuiper Belt.

Science papers reveal new aspects of Pluto and its Moons

Mar 18, 2016, at 02:45 pm

Washington, Mar 18 (IBNS): A year ago, Pluto was just a bright speck in the cameras of NASA’s approaching New Horizons spacecraft, not much different than its appearances in telescopes since Clyde Tombaugh discovered the then-ninth planet in 1930.

What’s eating at Pluto?

Mar 12, 2016, at 10:33 pm

Washington DC, Mar 12 (IBNS) Far in the western hemisphere, scientists on NASA’s New Horizons mission have discovered what looks like a giant “bite mark” on Pluto’s surface. They suspect it may be caused by a process known as sublimation—the transition of a substance from a solid to a gas. The methane ice-rich surface on Pluto may be sublimating away into the atmosphere, exposing a layer of water-ice underneath.

Methane snow on Pluto’s peaks

Mar 04, 2016, at 02:06 pm

California, Mar 4 (IBNS) One of Pluto’s most identifiable features, Cthulhu (pronounced kuh-THU-lu) stretches nearly halfway around Pluto’s equator, starting from the west of the great nitrogen ice plains known as Sputnik Planum.

The Frozen Canyons of Pluto’s North Pole

Feb 26, 2016, at 03:45 pm

California, Feb 26 (IBNS): The ethereal scene captured by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft tells yet another story of Pluto’s diversity of geological and compositional features—this time in an enhanced color image of the north polar area.

New Horizons finds blue skies and water ice on Pluto

Oct 09, 2015, at 06:30 am

California, Oct 9 (IBNS): The first color images of Pluto’s atmospheric hazes, returned by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft last week, reveal that the hazes are blue.

Second mountain range found in Pluto

Jul 22, 2015, at 06:13 pm

Washington, Jul 22 (IBNS) The New Horizons probe has tumbled on a second mountain range in Pluto.