Technical facts about this news release:
| About the Object |
| Object Name: |
Pluto |
| Object Description: |
Planet |
| Distance: |
Although its orbit is highly eccentric, Pluto's average distance from the Sun is 39.44 Astronomical Units (A.U.) or roughly 3.6 billion miles (5.9 billion kilometers). |
| Dimensions: |
Pluto has a diameter of roughly 1,416 miles (2,280 km) at the equator. |
|
| About the Data |
| Data Description: |
These HST data are from proposal 10774: H.A. Weaver (JHU/APL), S.A. Stern and J.R. Spencer (SwRI), M.W. Buie (Lowell Obs.), E. Young, L.A. Young, and A.J. Steffl (SwRI), M. Mutchler (STScI) and W.J. Merline (SwRI). |
| Instrument: |
ACS/HRC |
| Exposure Date(s): |
February 15, 2006 |
| Filters: |
F606W (V) |
|
| About the Image |
| Image Credit: |
NASA, ESA, H. Weaver (JHU/APL), A. Stern (SwRI), and the HST Pluto Companion Search Team |
| Release Date: |
February 22, 2006 |
| Color Assignment: |
This image was originally black and white and recorded only overall brightness. These brightness values were translated into a range of bluish hues. Such color "maps" can be useful in helping to distinguish subtly-varying brightness in an image. The colors in this image are not what human eyes would see looking at Pluto. |
| Orientation: |
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