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A Dark Mystery on Charon

These recent images from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft show the discovery of significant surface details on Pluto's largest moon, Charon.
PIA19690
Credits: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute
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Description

These recent images show the discovery of significant surface details on Pluto's largest moon, Charon. They were taken by the New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on June 18, 2015. The image on the left is the original image, displayed at four times the native LORRI image size. After applying a technique that sharpens an image called deconvolution, details become visible on Charon, including a distinct dark pole. Deconvolution can occasionally introduce "false" details, so the finest details in these pictures will need to be confirmed by images taken from closer range in the next few weeks.