The image, taken on April 9 and beamed back to Earth the following day, also shows Pluto's largest moon, Charon

Apr 15, 2015 07:56 GMT  ·  By

This past Wednesday, NASA scientists introduced the world to the first ever color image of dwarf planet Pluto and Charon, its largest moon. The image, available below, was taken by the agency's New Horizons spacecraft on April 9 and beamed back to Earth the following day. 

Admittedly, the view is quite blurry. Then again, it's important to keep in mind that the New Horizons probe snapped this picture from 71 million miles (about 115 million kilometers) away and that NASA researchers haven't yet had the chance to refine it.

Even so, Pluto's and Charon's silhouettes are easy to make out, as is the slight difference in color between these two celestial bodies. New Horizons mission scientists promise that, as it moves closer to Pluto, the probe will deliver even clearer images.

“The image is a preliminary reconstruction, which will be refined later by the New Horizons science team. As New Horizons approaches its flyby of Pluto on July 14, it will deliver color images that eventually show surface features as small as a few miles across,” reads the picture's description.

To obtain this color view of Pluto and its accompanying moon Charon, the New Horizons spacecraft relied on its Ralph color imager. When the probe gets closer to Pluto, the Ralph imager will serve to study the dwarf's planet anatomy.

Thus, scientists expect that this instrument will deliver data concerning surface temperatures on Pluto and the makeup of this celestial body's atmosphere. The Ralph imager will also map the dwarf planet's surface geology and its composition.

NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto

The New Horizons probe was launched in January 2006 from the Cape Canaveral space station in Florida, US. While on its way to the Pluto system, the spacecraft spent a total of 1,873 days in hibernation mode.

This Sleeping Beauty sort of nap, which ended towards the end of last year, on December 6, helped limit the spacecraft's use of electrical power, reduce the tear and cut back on the costs associated with this mission.

Should all go well, New Horizons will reach the Pluto system and complete a flyby of it this coming July 14. When this happens, NASA promises us some seriously cool and detailed close-ups of the dwarf planet and the moons orbiting it.

This is because, on said date, the space probe will get as close as 7,700 miles (12,400 kilometers) from Pluto. True, it will be moving at 31,000 miles per hour (50,000 kilometers per hour), but scientists expect that New Horizons will still manage to snap astoundingly clear images of its target.

“This 21st century encounter is going to be an exploration bonanza unparalleled in anticipation since the storied missions of Voyager in the 1980s,” says Alan Stern, New Horizons principal investigator from Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado.

Based on what they have so far learned about Pluto, NASA researchers describe the dwarf planet as having a nitrogen atmosphere, unique markings on its surface, an ice-rock interior that might hold a hidden ocean and complex seasons.

First Pluto-Charon color image from New Horizons
First Pluto-Charon color image from New Horizons

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Artist's depiction of the New Horizons probe
First Pluto-Charon color image from New Horizons
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