Latest images of Pluto's flowing ice; video of simulated fly-over

[Panich52]

Latest images of Pluto's flowing ice | Science Wire | EarthSky
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The images from New Horizons’ July 14 sweep past Pluto continue to come in. Among the recent discoveries: flowing nitrogen ice on Pluto! These exotic ices flow across Pluto’s at one edge of its bright heart-shaped area. Scientists had hoped to find signs of an active surface on Pluto, but, still, they were wowed by evidence of flowing ice. New Horizons mission co-investigator John Spencer commented in a July 24 statement:

We’ve only seen surfaces like this on active worlds like Earth and Mars.

I’m really smiling.

The images – which are still coming in and will continue to arrive at Earth over the coming 18 months – show detail within the Texas-sized plain (informally named Sputnik Planum) that lies within the western half of Pluto’s heart-shaped region, known as Tombaugh Regio.

There, a sheet of ice clearly appears to have flowed—and may still be flowing—in a manner similar to glaciers on Earth.

In the northern region of Pluto’s Sputnik Planum (Sputnik Plain), swirl-shaped patterns of light and dark suggest that a surface layer of exotic ices has flowed around obstacles and into depressions, much like glaciers on Earth. Image via NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

Four images from New Horizons’ Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) were combined with color data from the Ralph instrument to create this enhanced color global view of Pluto. The lower right edge of Pluto in this view currently lacks high-resolution color coverage. The images, taken when the spacecraft was 280,000 miles (450,000 km) away, show features as small as 1.4 miles (2.2 km). Image via NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI.

A simulated flyover of two regions on Pluto, northwestern Sputnik Planum (Sputnik Plain) and Hillary Montes (Hillary Mountains), was created from New Horizons close-approach images. Sputnik Planum has been informally named for Earth’s first artificial satellite, launched in 1957. Hillary Montes have been informally named for Sir Edmund Hillary, one of the first two humans to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1953. The images were acquired by the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on July 14 from a distance of 48,000 miles (77,000 kilometers). Features as small as one-half mile (1 kilometer) across are visible.

(couldn't post direct link to vid - watch at top link)