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Photo-Mapped Pluto Globe

This is the most detailed view to date of the entire surface of the dwarf planet Pluto, as constructed from multiple NASA Hubble Space Telescope photographs taken from 2002 to 2003. Hubble's view isn't sharp enough to see craters or mountains, if they exist on the surface, but Hubble reveals a complex-looking and variegated world with white, dark-orange, and charcoal-black terrain. The overall color is believed to be a result of ultraviolet radiation from the distant Sun breaking up methane that is present on Pluto's surface, leaving behind a dark, molasses-colored, carbon-rich residue. In this animation the images have been wrapped onto a rotating sphere.
  • Release Date
    February 4, 2010
  • Science Release
    New Hubble Maps of Pluto Show Surface Changes
  • Credit
    NASA, ESA, and M. Buie (Southwest Research Institute)

Downloads

  • 640 × 360, 30 FPS
    mp4 (163.04 KB)
  • 1280 × 720, 30 FPS
    mp4 (413.69 KB)

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Details

Last Updated
Mar 14, 2025
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov