Image credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI, of Pluto in enhanced color. Instruments used: Ralph/Multispectral Visual Imaging Camera (MVIC).

Pluto’s Color Variations Finally Make Sense

Why are some areas redder than others? It’s what happens to methane ice in the Sun.

“This is in a real sense the capstone of the initial missions to explore the planets. Pluto, its moons and this part of the solar system are such mysteries that New Horizons will rewrite all of the textbooks.” -Alan Stern

When viewed in enhanced color, the icy, outer world of Pluto looks very different from its more uniform, subdued hues.

Image credit: NASA/JUAPL/SwRI, of a natural color composite of Pluto and Charon from the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) instrument and the Ralph instrument.

In natural color, Pluto is reddish while Charon is a dull grey.

Image credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI, of Pluto and Charon in enhanced color thanks to observations from the spacecraft’s Ralph/Multispectral Visual Imaging Camera (MVIC).

But the enhancements shows the presence of reddening in various regions all across the planet.

Image credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI, of the barely-perceptible variations in color along the plains region. The “bumps” are likely due to migrating water-ice hills that float atop the nitrogen sea.

The hilly plains in Pluto’s heart-shaped area are mostly uniform, as a flat surface of nitrogen ice is disrupted by water-ice mountains and…