Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]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.

                                 2025 May 15
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                            A Plutonian Landscape
       Image Credit: [3]NASA, [4]Johns Hopkins Univ./APL, [5]Southwest
                             Research Institute

   Explanation: [6]This shadowy landscape of majestic mountains and icy
   plains stretches toward the horizon on a small, distant world. It was
   captured from a range of about 18,000 kilometers when [7]New Horizons
   looked back toward Pluto, 15 minutes after the spacecraft's closest
   approach on July 14, 2015. The dramatic, low-angle, [8]near-twilight
   scene follows rugged mountains formally known as Norgay Montes from
   foreground left, and Hillary Montes along the horizon, [9]giving way to
   smooth Sputnik Planum at right. Layers of Pluto's tenuous atmosphere
   are also revealed in the backlit view. With a strangely familiar
   appearance, the frigid terrain likely includes ices of nitrogen and
   carbon monoxide with water-ice mountains rising up to 3,500 meters
   (11,000 feet). That's comparable in height to the [10]majestic
   mountains of planet Earth. The Plutonian landscape is 380 kilometers
   (230 miles) across.

                     Tomorrow's picture: pinwheel galaxy
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    Authors & editors: [22]Robert Nemiroff ([23]MTU) & [24]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([25]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [26]Specific rights apply.
              [27]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [28]ASD at [29]NASA / [30]GSFC,
                         [31]NASA Science Activation
                           & [32]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2505/Pluto-Mountains-Plains9-17-15.jpg
   3. http://www.nasa.gov/
   4. http://www.jhuapl.edu/
   5. http://www.swri.edu/
   6. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19947
   7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250515.html
   8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap071227.html
   9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150718.html
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140801.html
  11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250514.html
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  15. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  20. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250515
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250516.html
  22. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  23. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  24. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  25. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  27. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  28. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  29. https://www.nasa.gov/
  30. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  31. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  32. http://www.mtu.edu/