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                           Astronomy Picture of the Day   
      
       Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our   
         fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation   
                       written by a professional astronomer.   
      
                                  2024 January 28   
       The minor planet Pluto is shown up close, as seen by the passing New   
      Horizons spacecraft, and in true color. Pluto is a complex mix of beige   
        regions and some dark brown regions. Please see the explanation for   
                            more detailed information.   
      
                                Pluto in True Color   
            Image Credit: NASA, JHU APL, SwRI; Processing: Alex Parker   
      
      Explanation: What color is Pluto, really? It took some effort to figure   
      out. Even given all of the images sent back to Earth when the robotic   
      New Horizons spacecraft sped past Pluto in 2015, processing these   
      multi-spectral frames to approximate what the human eye would see was   
      challenging. The result featured here, released three years after the   
      raw data was acquired by New Horizons, is the highest resolution true   
      color image of Pluto ever taken. Visible in the image is the   
      light-colored, heart-shaped, Tombaugh Regio, with the unexpectedly   
      smooth Sputnik Planitia, made of frozen nitrogen, filling its western   
      lobe. New Horizons found the dwarf planet to have a surprisingly   
      complex surface composed of many regions having perceptibly different   
      hues. In total, though, Pluto is mostly brown, with much of its muted   
      color originating from small amounts of surface methane energized by   
      ultraviolet light from the Sun.   
      
                       Tomorrow's picture: stars versus dust   
        __________________________________________________________________   
      
          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
               NASA Official: Amber Straughn; Specific rights apply.   
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                         A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,   
                              NASA Science Activation   
                                & Michigan Tech. U.   
      
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