Pluto Reveals Variety of Rich Colors, Stunning Experts

[Judi Lynn]

Pluto Reveals Variety of Rich Colors, Stunning Experts

World | Agence France-Presse | Updated: October 16, 2015 05:44 IST



Washington: Pluto contains a rich variety of colors on its surface, according to observations out Thursday from NASA's New Horizons probe that stunned astronomers.

The probe's first published science results revealed dark red parts at the equator of the dwarf planet to lighter and bluer regions at higher latitudes.

Previously experts did not have a clear picture of Pluto's colors.

"I was astonished to see such spectacular surface color and geological diversity," said Silvia Protopapa, an assistant research scientist in astronomy at the University of Maryland and part of the New Horizons surface composition team.

A new color image of Pluto published in the journal Science was obtained with the spacecraft's Multi-spectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC).

More:
http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/pluto-reveals-variety-of-rich-colors-stunning-experts-1232779

[Ratty]

1. Interesting. I had thought they were false colors

Common in astronomy especially with images taken in IR or UV or in very low light conditions like with Pluto. I'd just assumed those weird colors were an enhancement. Blows my mind Pluto isn't just snowy white like everyone thought.

[PosterChild]

3. They aren't exactly red - blue -green . ..

... its four colors:

blue (400-550 nm), red (540-700 nm), near IR (780 – 975 nm) and narrow band methane (860 – 910 nm)

So there is some "falsity" to the scene.

[krispos42]

2. even in temps far below zero...

And incredibly lacking in light, chemistry processes.