Latest images from New Horizons see Pluto’s polar cap
Images taken between April 12 and April 18 by New Horizons of Pluto not only show one complete rotation of the planet as well as its moon Charon, the images also show a bright spot at Pluto’s pole that could be a polar cap.
The article calls it an “ice cap” but that is premature. At Pluto that cap could be made of a number of materials, not just water. We will not know until New Horizons gets closer.
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Images taken between April 12 and April 18 by New Horizons of Pluto not only show one complete rotation of the planet as well as its moon Charon, the images also show a bright spot at Pluto’s pole that could be a polar cap.
The article calls it an “ice cap” but that is premature. At Pluto that cap could be made of a number of materials, not just water. We will not know until New Horizons gets closer.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Given that the solar illumination at Pluto is 900 times weaker than at Earth, can we assume these images have been adjusted in terms of brightness so that they wouldn’t just look like barely lit up gray circles?