Those Amazing Pluto Photos And The Scientists Enthralled By Them

By Colorado Public Radio Staff
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It's been just about a week since we earthlings got our first, clear look at Pluto. The distant body at the edge of the Solar System has a surface more intricate than first thought. A new batch of images from the New Horizon's mission were released on Friday -- and scientists are riveted. There are intricate shapes, bubbling black substances, and dark areas.

Fran Bagenal is a planetary scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder and co-investigator on the mission. She's back in the state from the mission's operations center in Maryland. She spoke with Colorado Matters host Ryan Warner.

Photo: Pluto, Heart (NASA)
Pluto seen from the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) aboard NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, taken on July 13, 2015 when the spacecraft was 476,000 miles from the surface.
Photo: Pluto, Detail Inlay (NASA)
Pluto's largest moon, Charon, seen by the New Horizons probe on July 14. In the top left corner of the inset photo, a depression with a peak in the middle is visible.
Pluto:Sputnik Plain (NASA)
This image from Pluto shows the Sputnik Plain, part of its heart-shaped feature. Via NASA: "The surface appears to be divided into irregularly-shaped segments that are ringed by narrow troughs. Features that appear to be groups of mounds and fields of small pits are also visible."
Photo: Pluto Mountains (NASA)
This image from near Pluto’s equator shows a range of mountains as tall as 11,000 feet. That's slightly less elevation than Loveland Pass in Colorado.
Photo: Pluto And Charon (NASA)
The latest two full-frame images of Pluto and Charon were collected separately by New Horizons during approach on July 13 and July 14, 2015. The color has also been enhanced.
Photo: Pluto NASA Reaction
Members of the New Horizons science team react to seeing the latest images of Pluto on July 14, 2015 at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland.
Photo: Pluto NASA Reaction 2 (NASA)
The scene at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, as the New Horizons probe approached Pluto.

Pluto wags its tail... its plasma tail. We found atmospheric ions behind Pluto. http://t.co/brq5jMTdJO #PlutoFlyby pic.twitter.com/mzFcrZXnIz

Peering at the 'heart,' @NASANewHorizons reveals evidence of carbon monoxide ice: http://t.co/pGtKMeWL1W #PlutoFlyby pic.twitter.com/P7vYEalI0l

Revealed: Pluto’s atmosphere extends as far as 1,000 miles above its surface: http://t.co/otIB8Gat8A #PlutoFlyby pic.twitter.com/y2kl3f2YVJ

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