Pluto Archives - Universe Today

Hey Map Collectors, Here’s a New Map of Pluto!

19 Jul , 2017 by Matt Williams

Using data from the New Horizons spacecraft, the mission team has created some new maps of Pluto and its largest moon, Charon.

Two Years Ago Today: It Was a Clear Day on Pluto When New Horizons Flew By

14 Jul , 2017 by Nancy Atkinson

It was two years ago this morning that we awoke to see the now iconic image of Pluto that the New Horizons spacecraft had sent to Earth during the night. You, of course, know the picture I’m talking about – the one with a clear view of the giant heart-shaped region on the distant, little […]

Did you Know There are X-rays Coming from Pluto? That’s Strange, What’s Causing it?

5 Jul , 2017 by Matt Williams

A new study by a team of astronomers has revealed that an unexpected amount of x-ray emissions coming from Pluto, which was highly unexpected.

An Astronomical Detective Tale and the Moon of 2007 OR10

21 Jun , 2017 by David Dickinson

It isn’t every day we get a new moon added to the list of solar system satellites. The combined observational power of three observatories—Kepler, Herschel and Hubble—led an astronomical detective tale to its climatic conclusion: distant Kuiper Belt Object 2007 OR10 has a tiny moon.

The Next Pluto Mission: An Orbiter and Lander?

26 Apr , 2017 by Nancy Atkinson

For decades, we could only imagine what the view of Pluto’s surface might be. Now, we have the real thing. The images and data from the New Horizons’ mission flyby of Pluto in July 2015 showed us an unexpectedly stunning and geologically active world. Scientists have used words like ‘magical,’ ‘breathtaking’ and ‘scientific wonderland’ to […]

The Orbit of Pluto. How Long is a Year on Pluto?

29 Mar , 2017 by Matt Williams

Given its extreme distance from the Sun, Pluto has a very long orbital period. As such, a single year on Pluto lasts as long as 248 Earth years, or 90,560 Earth days!

Get Ready For The >100 Planet Solar System

18 Mar , 2017 by Evan Gough

If a new definition of planet is adopted by the International Astronomical Union, our Solar System could be home to more than 110 planets.

A Farewell to Plutoshine

26 Jan , 2017 by David Dickinson

Sometimes, its not the eye candy aspect of the image, but what it represents. A recent image of Pluto’s large moon Charon courtesy of New Horizons caught our eye. Looking like something from the grainy era of the early Space Age, we see a crescent Charon, hanging against a starry background…

Here’s the Highest Resolution Map of Pluto We’ll Get from New Horizons

21 Jan , 2017 by Matt Williams

Members of the New Horizons team recently conducted a live panel discussion where they talked about the spacecraft’s greatest accomplishments, which included the highest resolution map of Pluto ever created.

The Car Alan Stern Drove to Pluto

15 Dec , 2016 by Nancy Atkinson

Many of the rocket and space flight enthusiasts I know are also car buffs. If you fit into that category, here’s an opportunity you won’t want to miss: a chance to own the car that New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern drove all the way to Pluto. Well, technically, he drove his shiny red Nissan […]

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