The search for New Horizons images no longer faces the dreaded "buffering" message.

New Horizons phones in with lots of Pluto images

The search for New Horizons images no longer faces the dreaded "buffering" message.

by John Timmer

NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

A view of Pluto's northern hemisphere built by compositing multiple detailed images and adjusting them for perspective. The foreground is dominated by the dark Cthulu Regio, which borders the smooth, light Sputnik Planum.

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   NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

   A view of Pluto's northern hemisphere built by compositing multiple detailed images and adjusting them for perspective. The foreground is dominated by the dark Cthulu Regio, which borders the smooth, light Sputnik Planum.
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   NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

   Sputnik Planum in all its glory.
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   NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

   Here, the smooth planes of Sputnik Planum end in chaotic, jumbled terrain. In a rarity, NASA can't seem to think of an Earth-bound analog to compare the terrain to.
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   NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

   A high-resolution image of a 350km wide region of Pluto. Mountains and a smooth, crater-free plane dominate the image, but researchers think some of the details may reveal dunes of a granular material.
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   NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

   A raw image shows Pluto's atmosphere (left), while processing indicates that there are several discrete layers within it.
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   NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

   An image of Charon taken from about 470,000km away. For a small body, Charon is very feature-rich. There are mountains, crustal fractures, smooth plains, and differences in reflectivity.

Pluto, given its small size and great distance from the Sun, simply can't support many of the geological processes that have created features on other planets. Its largest moon, Charon, can't generate the sorts of tidal forces that drive the formation of terrain on the moons of the gas giants. Yet the few images that were sent back during the New Horizons flyby revealed a world filled with complex features. Now, we're starting to get multiple, detailed images of the dwarf planet. Hopefully we'll find some clues about Pluto's enigmatic features hidden in the pixels. These include large, smooth planes that imply a recent remodeling of the planet's surface, possible dunes of granular material and glaciers of frozen nitrogen, and mountains, ridges, and other complex, jumbled terrain.
Plus, NASA is promising that a more detailed look at some of the dwarf planet's moons will be making their way to Earth later on Friday.
Listing image by NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute