Pluto-pia! New Horizons Probe Discovers Cool Things [IMAGE]
NASA investigator says Pluto has 5 moons, a polar cap, and he cares not for the term “dwarf planet”.
Pluto has a polar cap. That’s one of the things scientists have discovered as the New Horizons space probe nears the end of its 9-year journey to the dwarf planet. It will make its closest approach to Pluto on July 14, but has already sent back the first color image of Pluto ever taken by an approaching spacecraft. Dr. Alan Stern is a planetary scientist and the principal investigator for the New Horizons mission. He tells WDET’s Pat Batcheller finding a polar cap on Pluto is exciting.
See images and more on the NASA New Horizons mission web site.
Below are the color image of Pluto and its largest moon Charon and pictures featuring the orbits of the dwarf planet’s other moons.
