Tag Archive for 'Dwarf planet'

Snowcapped mountains in the southernmost part of Pluto. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

New Horizons Finds Methane Snow-Capped Mountains near Pluto’s South Polar Region

Sep 6, 2016 by News Staff

A new close-up image from NASA’s New Horizons robotic spacecraft reveals snowcapped mountains in the southernmost part of Pluto. Snowcapped mountains...

This false-color image shows the dwarf planet Ceres. Scientists use false color to examine differences in surface materials. The color blue on Ceres is generally associated with bright material, found in more than 130 locations, and seems to be consistent with salts. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA.

Six Studies Provide New Insights into Dwarf Planet Ceres

Sep 2, 2016 by News Staff

Researchers on the Dawn mission released a series of six groundbreaking papers on the dwarf planet Ceres today in the journal Science. The new results...

Dawn Orbiter Provides Clues to Internal Structure of Dwarf Planet Ceres

Aug 4, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using data from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft about Ceres’ gravity and topography, mission scientists have found that the dwarf planet is ‘differentiated,’...

One year ago, NASA’s New Horizons space probe entered the history books by exploring the Pluto system. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

New Horizons’ Top Ten Images, Discoveries at Pluto

Jul 18, 2016 by News Staff

One year ago, NASA’s New Horizons space probe entered the history books by exploring the Pluto system. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University...

Dwarf planet Sedna. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / R. Hurt, SSC-Caltech.

2015 RR245: New Dwarf Planet Discovered in Solar System’s Kuiper Belt

Jul 12, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers have discovered a new dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt, a vast ring of icy debris that is encircling the outer rim of our Solar System just...

Occator crater (center) appears to be among the youngest features on Ceres. Dawn mission scientists estimate its age to be about 78 million years old. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA.

Hydrothermal Activity May Explain Mysterious Bright Spots on Ceres

Jul 1, 2016 by News Staff

Anomalously bright areas on the dwarf planet Ceres have the highest concentration of sodium carbonate ever seen outside our planet, says a new study published...

This Pluto mosaic was made from New Horizons LORRI images taken on July 14, 2015, from a distance of 49,700 miles (80,000 km). This view is projected from a point 1,118 miles (1,800 km) above Pluto’s equator, looking northeast over the dark, cratered Cthulhu Regio toward the bright, smooth expanse of icy plains called Sputnik Planum. Pluto’s North Pole is off the image to the left. This mosaic was produced with panchromatic images from the New Horizons LORRI camera, with color overlaid from the Ralph color mapper onboard New Horizons. Image credit: S.A. Stern et al, doi: 10.1126/science.aad1815.

Pluto Likely Has a Hidden Liquid Ocean

Jun 21, 2016 by News Staff

When NASA’s New Horizons robotic spacecraft flew by Pluto in July 2015, it revealed clues that the enigmatic dwarf planet might have – or had at...

Pluto’s far side. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

New Horizons Image Shows Pluto’s Far Side

Jun 6, 2016 by News Staff

The Ralph/Multispectral Visual Imaging Camera onboard NASA’s New Horizons robotic probe captured this image of Pluto only 19 minutes after closest approach...

Sputnik Planum basin: this scene, which is about 250 miles (400 km) across, uses data from New Horizons’ Ralph/MVIC instrument. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

Irregular Polygons in Pluto’s Heart-Shaped Region Finally Explained

Jun 1, 2016 by News Staff

According to members of NASA’s New Horizons science team, the icy surface of Pluto’s Sputnik Planum basin is being constantly renewed by a process...

Artist’s impression of the dwarf planet and trans-Neptunian object (225088) 2007 OR10. Image credit: NASA.

2007 OR10 is Third-Largest Dwarf Planet, Astronomers Say

May 13, 2016 by News Staff

According to observations from ESA’s Herschel Space Observatory and NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope-K2 extended mission, the dwarf planet and trans-Neptunian...

This artist’s concept shows Makemake and its moon, MK 2. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Alex Parker, Southwest Research Institute.

MK 2: Astronomers Discover Tiny Moon Orbiting Makemake

Apr 27, 2016 by News Staff

Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered a tiny, dark moon orbiting the dwarf planet Makemake, one of several dwarf planets...

The bright spots near the center of Occator crater are shown in enhanced color in this view from NASA’s Dawn robotic spacecraft. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA / PSI / LPI.

New Images of Ceres Show Its Mysterious Bright Spots in Unprecedented Detail

Mar 22, 2016 by News Staff

Planetary researchers from NASA’s Dawn mission have released new images of the dwarf planet Ceres, including anticipated views of its intriguing ‘bright...

This high-resolution image of Pluto was taken by New Horizons on July 14. Pluto’s surface sports a remarkable range of subtle colors, enhanced in this view to a rainbow of pale blues, yellows, oranges, and deep reds. Many landforms have their own distinct colors, telling a complex geological and climatological story that scientists have only just begun to decode. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

Science Papers Provide New Data from Pluto System Flyby

Mar 18, 2016 by News Staff

Researchers on the New Horizons team have released a set of five scientific papers describing results from the July 2015 flyby of the Pluto system. This...

This artist’s impression shows the very bright patches of material in the crater Occator and elsewhere. Image credit: ESO / L.Calçada / NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA / Steve Albers / N. Risinger, skysurvey.org.

HARPS Discovers Surprising Changes of Ceres’ Bright Spots

Mar 16, 2016 by News Staff

New observations using the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) spectrograph – a high-precision instrument on the 3.6-m telescope at...

‘Bite mark’ on Pluto. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

New Horizons Team Finds ‘Bite Mark’ on Pluto

Mar 14, 2016 by News Staff

Members of the New Horizons mission team have discovered a huge ‘bite mark’ on the surface of the dwarf planet Pluto. ‘Bite mark’ on Pluto. The...

Ahuna Mons is seen in this mosaic of images from Dawn. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA.

Dawn Beams Back New Images of Ceres’ Mysterious ‘Pyramid-Shaped’ Mountain

Mar 10, 2016 by News Staff

This incredible mosaic of images from NASA’s Dawn orbiter shows one of Ceres’ most intriguing features — a mysterious mountain called Ahuna Mons. Ahuna...

Methane snow-capped mountains in Cthulhu Regio, Pluto. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

New Horizons Spots Methane Snow-Capped Mountains on Pluto

Mar 7, 2016 by News Staff

This newly released image from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft shows a chain of snowcapped mountains in Pluto’s Cthulhu Regio. Methane snow-capped mountains...

Vast canyons on Pluto’s north pole: the widest of the canyons is marked in yellow; smaller canyons are green; the valleys are blue and pink; irregularly-shaped pits are red. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

New Horizons Sees Canyons on North Pole of Pluto

Feb 26, 2016 by News Staff

This enhanced color image of Pluto’s north polar area was taken by New Horizons’ Ralph/Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera on July 14, 2015, from...

Geologic map of Pluto’s famous heart-shaped region, Sputnik Planum. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

NASA Scientists Create Geologic Map of Pluto’s Big Heart

Feb 16, 2016 by News Staff

NASA scientists have produced this geologic map of one of Pluto’s most dominant features from images taken by New Horizons’ Long Range Reconnaissance...

LEISA data point to more prevalent water ice on the surface of Pluto than previously thought. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

Relatively Large Amounts of Water Ice Found on Pluto’s Surface

Feb 2, 2016 by News Staff

NASA’s New Horizons science team used data from the Ralph/Linear Etalon Imaging Spectral Array (LEISA) — a short-wavelength, IR, spectral imager...

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