#nitrogen ice

[spaceflight-insider]

Images of Pluto's dark side produced using reflected sunlight from Charon

Images of Pluto’s dark side produced using reflected sunlight from Charon

This is a fuzzy view of Pluto’s dark, non-encounter side, as imaged by New Horizons. Reflected sunlight from Charon reveals some surface features. Credit: NOIRLAB/SwRI/JHUAPL/NASA A team of scientists produced images of Pluto’s dark side using reflected sunlight from its large moon Charon in images taken by the New Horizons spacecraft to tease out features on that side in low resolution. (more…)

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[alxndrasplace]

(NASA)  Sputnik Planum vs. Krun Macula Image Credit: NASA, Johns Hopkins Univ./APL, Southwest Research Institute

Pluto's pitted plains meet rugged highlands in this stunning view. On the left lies a southeastern extent of the bright region still informally known as Sputnik Planum. At right the edge of a dark region, informally Krun Macula, rises some 2.5 kilometers above the icy plains. Along the boundary, connected clusters of large pits form deep valleys, some over 40 kilometers long with shadowy floors. Nitrogen ice is likely responsible for the more reflective plains. The dark red color of the highlands is thought to be from complex compounds called tholins, a product of ultraviolet light induced chemical reactions with methane in Pluto's atmosphere. The enhanced color image includes portions of the highest and second highest resolution image data from the New Horizons July 2015 flyby of the distant world.

[giftedpi]

Solid Nitrogen, Vacuum Cooling and Dry Ice