Charon revealed: New Horizons camera spots Pluto's largest moon
Thursday, July 11, 2013 - 16:00
in Astronomy & Space
(Phys.org) —NASA's Pluto-bound New Horizons spacecraft, using its highest-resolution telescopic camera, has spotted Pluto's Texas-sized, ice-covered moon Charon for the first time. This represents a major milestone on the spacecraft's 9.5-year journey to conduct the initial reconnaissance of the Pluto system and the Kuiper Belt and, in a sense, begins the mission's long-range study of the Pluto system.