Category Astronomy/Space

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft captured this high-resolution, enhanced color view of Pluto’s largest moon, Charon, just before closest approach on July 14, 2015. The image combines blue, red and infrared images taken by the spacecraft’s Ralph/Multispectral Visual Imaging Camera (MVIC); the colors are processed to best highlight the variation of surface properties across Charon. Scientists have learned that reddish material in the north (top) polar region — informally named Mordor Macula — is chemically processed methane that escaped from Pluto’s atmosphere onto Charon. Charon is 754 miles (1,214 kilometers) across; this image resolves details as small as 1.8 miles (2.9 kilometers). Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

A rendering of the Cislunar Explorers CubeSat separating after deployment. Credit: Kyle Doyle

A high spatial resolution sky map based on observations by the European Space Agency’s astrometry mission Gaia. The different shades of grey show the number of sources detected per unit area. The lightest areas typically correspond to 500,000 sources per square degree (roughly the size of the object Omega Cen near the center of the map). The Galaxy is clearly visible, while the dark regions where few sources are detected show, with excellent resolution, the clouds of gas and dust that absorb starlight. The striations and large, more or less oval structures are caused by Gaia scanning the sky over a period of 14 months, and will disappear in subsequent versions. Credit: © ESA/Gaia/DPAC. Image generated by: André Moitinho & Márcia Barros (CENTRA – University of Lisbon) on behalf of DPAC.

Galaxies of Stephan’s Quintet in the constellation Pegasus, observed by the Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team.