Τα Τάρταρα του Πλούτωνα! Pluto's Snakeskin Terrain

Τα εντυπωσιακά Τάρταρα του Πλούτωνα που σε κάποιους θυμίζουν ένα φίδι. Ιn this extended color image of Pluto taken by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, rounded and bizarrely textured mountains, informally named the Tartarus Dorsa, rise up along Pluto's day-night terminator and show intricate but puzzling patterns of blue-gray ridges and reddish material in between. This view, roughly 330 miles (530 kilometers) across, combines blue, red and infrared images taken by the Ralph/Multispectral Visual Imaging Camera (MVIC) on July 14, 2015, and resolves details and colors on scales as small as 0.8 miles (1.3 kilometers). Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

Πιστή στο ραντεβού της Παρασκευής η NASA δημοσίευσε νέες εικόνες από τον πλανήτη νάνο του ηλιακού μας συστήματος.

New Horizons captured this high-resolution enhanced colour view of Pluto on July 14. The dwarf planet's surface sports a remarkable range of subtle colours, enhanced in this view to a rainbow of pale blues, yellows, oranges, and deep reds. Many landforms have their own distinct colours, telling a complex geological and climatological story that scientists have only just begun to decode.

This cylindrical projection map of Pluto, in enhanced, extended color, is the most detailed color map of Pluto ever made. It uses recently returned color imagery from the New Horizons Ralph camera, which is draped onto a base map of images from the NASA's spacecraft's Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI). The map can be zoomed in to reveal exquisite detail with high scientific value. Color variations have been enhanced to bring out subtle differences. Colors used in this map are the blue, red, and near-infrared filter channels of the Ralph instrument. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

High-resolution images of Pluto taken by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft just before closest approach on July 14, 2015, reveal features as small as 270 yards (250 meters) across, from craters to faulted mountain blocks, to the textured surface of the vast basin informally called Sputnik Planum. Enhanced color has been added from the global color image. This image is about 330 miles (530 kilometers) across. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

Πρόκειται για τις υψηλότερης ανάλυσης εικόνες που έχουμε δει από τον Πλούτωνα μέχρι σήμερα. Η πιο εντυπωσιακή εξ αυτών δείχνει με λεπτομέρεια μια περιοχή με παράλληλες ευθυγραμμισμένες οροσειρές οι οποίες ονομάστηκαν Τάρταρα! Τα στελέχη της αποστολής New Horizons αναφέρουν στην ανακοίνωση για τις νέες εικόνες που έδωσαν στη δημοσιότητα ότι Τάρταρα μοιάζουν πολύ με… δέρμα φιδιού.