Pluto is the unquestionably the most goth (dwarf) planet in the solar system. Its cold, icy heart and underworld-themed moons are absolutely spooktacular, and yet none of us will ever get to see them in person. Thankfully, new video from NASA gives us an up close and personal tour of our favorite (former) planet. It’s almost as metal as the real deal.
Using data from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, which famously flew by Pluto about two years ago, the space agency has recreated the dwarf planet’s most dramatic features. In the video below, the viewer soars over Pluto’s nitrogen ice plain—known as Sputnik Planitia—as well as the highlands of Voyager Terra and Pioneer Terra. West of Sputnik, we get a glimpse of my favorite Plutonian feature, a methane ice mountain range known as Cthulhu Regio. Pluto’s surface colors and topographic relief have been exaggerated to make the landscapes look particularly dramatic.
While we’ll never get to hover above Pluto in real life, at least we can live vicariously through a NASA spacecraft hurtling through the void. Seems appropriately goth.
[NASA]