Pluto

Compare All The Objects Of The Solar System

Yesterday, we looked at an interactive infographic on the relative orbits of everything in the solar system. Today, let’s compare the planets to one another. This site shows us how all of the solar system’s planets (and Pluto) stack up. This is another really neat tool that drives home just how diverse or solar system…

io9 Andrew Liptak Aug 2

We’re Actively Creating the Geekiest World in the Universe

It’s no secret that scientists are incredible, unrepentant geeks, so we really shouldn’t be surprised that the tentative maps for Pluto and Charon read like the most awesome mishmash of exploration history and popular culture to ever grace a planetary system. And every single place holds a story. The New Horizons science team is busy…

Tech News Mika McKinnon Aug 1

How Would the Ice on Pluto Change The Way the Craters Look?

Among the many revelations about Pluto we’ve got in the last weeks was the existence of a very strangely-iced surface and the lack of craters. But does one have anything to do with the other? The question came up in the comments section of this piece on Pluto’s remarkably unscarred surface—and planetary scientist Luke Dones…

io9 Ria Misra Jul 28

Why Pluto Lacks Craters, and Why That’s So Freakishly Weird

Pluto has been puzzling us with its weirdly smooth surface, but if it’s the first Kuiper Belt Object we’ve visited, how did we know how many craters to expect in the first place? Here’s everything we’ve figured out about collisions in this chaotic area of our Solar System. When we got our first close-up look…

Tech News Mika McKinnon Jul 28

Hitch a Ride on New Horizons in Latest Flyover Animation from Pluto

That’s it. I’m packing my bags, hitching a ride on the next rocket, and finding a way to skate on the icy nitrogen glaciers of Pluto. The latest flover animation from New Horizons data takes us soaring in the skies over the aching expanses of Sputnik Planum and the jagged teeth of Hillary Montes. Check…

Tech News Mika McKinnon Jul 24

How This Iconic Image of Pluto Came to Be

On July 14, this unprecedented image forever changed our view of Pluto. But New Horizons did not beam this photo to Earth as you see it here. It arrived unassembled: rough, lossy, colorless. Revealing Pluto’s true face would require some effort, and a specialized team of scientists with an… unconventional name. At Science, Eric Hand…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Jul 24

Pluto Looks Dazzling in This New Exaggerated Color Image

Now that’s a planet, folks! Classification be damned, Pluto is an amazing little world, and this high-res, enhanced-color image is the latest awe-inspiring portrait of it. And it’s revealing all sorts of fascinating details about the dwarf planet’s active surface. This exquisite new global view of Pluto combines four images taken by New Horizons’ Long…

Space & Spaceflight Maddie Stone Jul 24

The Nightside of Pluto is Fucking Gorgeous

We think we’re in love. The New Horizons probe swivelled around after the Pluto Flyby to take a nightside snapshot of the dwarf planet. The result is both beautiful and scientifically fascinating, the very best combination. After the closest approach flyby on July 14, 2015, the New Horizons spacecraft continued soaring past the Pluto-Charon system…

Tech News Mika McKinnon Jul 24

Pluto is Something Way More Awesome Than a Mere Planet

Stop hoping that Pluto will regain its former designation as a planet. It isn’t going to happen. But the good news is, Pluto is something much cooler than a mere planet. It’s the largest dwarf planet we know, and one half of the first binary planet system. Pluto didn’t get demoted, it got promoted. We’re…

Tech News Mika McKinnon Jul 23

Newly-Discovered Mountains on Pluto Finally Have Those Missing Craters

After all our confusion over Pluto’s strangely smooth and young terrain in the Tombaugh Regio, it’s almost a relief to start seeing craters in the latest close-up photos. In the latest image release, we’ve discovered a second mountain range in dark, old cratered terrain. The latest close-up from the New Horizons is a new release…

Tech News Mika McKinnon Jul 23

Could a Massive Collision Produce a Subsurface Ocean on Pluto?

Pluto and Charon have captured our hearts and imaginations. But how did these adorably strange worlds form, and what consequences could that have on what we see now? Researcher Amy Barr Mlinar chatted with us about catastrophic collisions, subsurface oceans, and Pluto’s lack of craters. The New Horizons spacecraft is bombarding us with a steady…

Tech News Mika McKinnon Jul 22

How NASA Won the Internet

This time last week, the Internet wasn’t talking about cat videos or Kardashians. Instead, millions were discussing whether a piano-sized robot 3 billion miles from Earth would beam home a critical radio signal on schedule. That signal would tell us that the New Horizons spacecraft had successfully accomplished its Pluto flyby. On July 14th 2015,…

Tech News Maddie Stone Jul 21

Pluto’s Tiny Moons Are Coming Into Colorful Focus

Last week, Nix and Hydra transformed before our eyes from specks of light to bonafide moons. Today, NASA released a new set of images, bringing Pluto’s oblong satellites into even better focus. The latest astonishing finds? Nix has a rosy glow and Hydra has craters. The image on the left, captured by the New Horizons…

Space & Spaceflight Maddie Stone Jul 21

Stunning Pluto Art Makes Me Want to Hike the Norgay Montes

Over the past few weeks, we’ve watched Pluto transform from a fuzzy gray ball into a reddish-pink world with ice plains, mountains ranges, and hints of geologic activity. But science isn’t the only great thing about the recent Pluto discoveries: The new artwork is pretty stellar, too. What would it be like to stand on…

Tech News Maddie Stone Jul 19

Your Guide to Pluto: Everything We’ve Learned From New Horizons So Far

New ideas about Pluto, Charon, and all the little moons have been flowing back from the New Horizons spacecraft fast and furious. If you’re curious but haven’t kept up, here’s everything we’ve learned so far. The New Horizons spacecraft is on a decade-long mission exploring deep space. It just completed the first-ever flyby of Pluto,…

Tech News Mika McKinnon Jul 18

Here’s the Science so far on Pluto’s Icy Mountains and Bumpy Plains

The more of Pluto’s surface we see, the more interesting landscapes it offers us to explore. Here’s a closer look at the landforms revealed so far, and what types of processes might have created them. This beautiful animation of hitching a ride on New Horizons as it soared over Tombaugh Regio, the massive heart of…

Tech News Mika McKinnon Jul 18

A Closeup View of Pluto’s Heart

You’ve seen the view from 77,000 km overhead, now get up close and personal with Pluto’s cold, cold heart (now officially known as Tombaugh Regio) with this detailed look at the region’s vast, frozen plains. Contact the author at [email protected]. Image Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI.

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Jul 17

What Watching Pluto Pop Into Focus Has Meant To Us

Our look at Pluto has been 85 years in the making—and this is what it meant to us. Our comment of the day today is this little bit of warmth from Straelbora—“My three year old son will always know that Pluto is a pinkish-red color. For some reason, that fact is very cool to me.…

io9 Ria Misra Jul 17

This is What Pluto and Charon Look Like in Real Life

If you could survive the long, cold trip to Pluto, this is how you would see the dwarf planet and its largest moon Charon with your own eyes. The New Horizons spacecraft took a final pair of colour photographs of Pluto and its largest moon before its closest approach. The images were taken separately, then…

Tech News Mika McKinnon Jul 17

Pluto’s Atmosphere is Billowing Away into Space

Pluto just can’t stop blowing our minds. Not only is it a geologically active world with ice mountains the size of the Rockies and frozen plains of methane and nitrogen, we’ve just learned that Pluto’s atmosphere is pouring away into space. It’s leaving a massive tail of charged plasma in its wake. That’s one of…

Space & Spaceflight Maddie Stone Jul 17

Compare All The Objects Of The Solar System

We’re Actively Creating the Geekiest World in the Universe

How Would the Ice on Pluto Change The Way the Craters Look?

Why Pluto Lacks Craters, and Why That’s So Freakishly Weird

Hitch a Ride on New Horizons in Latest Flyover Animation from Pluto

How This Iconic Image of Pluto Came to Be

Pluto Looks Dazzling in This New Exaggerated Color Image

The Nightside of Pluto is Fucking Gorgeous

Pluto is Something Way More Awesome Than a Mere Planet

Newly-Discovered Mountains on Pluto Finally Have Those Missing Craters

Could a Massive Collision Produce a Subsurface Ocean on Pluto?

How NASA Won the Internet

Pluto’s Tiny Moons Are Coming Into Colorful Focus

Stunning Pluto Art Makes Me Want to Hike the Norgay Montes

Your Guide to Pluto: Everything We’ve Learned From New Horizons So Far

Here’s the Science so far on Pluto’s Icy Mountains and Bumpy Plains

A Closeup View of Pluto’s Heart

What Watching Pluto Pop Into Focus Has Meant To Us

This is What Pluto and Charon Look Like in Real Life

Pluto’s Atmosphere is Billowing Away into Space

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