Peapix

  • Bing Gallery
  • Extension
Peapix
Bing Gallery
Extension
  • India
    All
    Australia Canada China Germany France India Japan Spain United Kingdom United States Italy Brazil

Bing Gallery

Australia Canada China Germany France India Japan Spain United Kingdom United States Italy Brazil
  1. Bing Gallery
  2. India
  3. 2020
  4. February 18
  5. Pluto's crescent imaged by NASA's New Horizons interplanetary space probe
arrow_back_ios arrow_forward_ios Pluto's crescent imaged by NASA's New Horizons interplanetary space probe

February 18, 2020

Pluto's crescent imaged by NASA's New Horizons interplanetary space probe

© NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI/Science Photo Librar

Too awesome to be a planet

Pluto was first spotted on this day in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh, a 23-year-old astronomer at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. Because it’s so far away—about 40 times as far from the sun as Earth is—scientists knew relatively little about Pluto until the New Horizons spacecraft reached it in 2015. In a flyby study, the craft spent more than five months gathering detailed information about Pluto and its moons. What did they find out? There’s a heart-shaped glacier, blue skies, spinning moons, mountains as high as the Rockies, and it snows—but the snow is red.

Once thought to be one of nine full-fledged planets orbiting our sun, in 2006, Pluto was stripped of its planetary status and reclassified as merely a 'dwarf planet.' (Sorry, Pluto.) Though it may no longer be considered a true planet, it’s still the largest dwarf planet of our solar system and holds plenty of mysteries waiting to be discovered.

abstract moon astronomy circle space dark

Related Images

The Milky Way framed by Double Arch in Arches National Park, Utah, United StatesThe Milky Way framed by Double Arch in Arches National Park, Utah, United States
Joshua trees under the Milky Way, California, United StatesJoshua trees under the Milky Way, California, United States
Tre Cime di Lavaredo, ItalyTre Cime di Lavaredo, Italy
Milky Way, Aït Benhaddou, MoroccoMilky Way, Aït Benhaddou, Morocco
The moonThe moon
Hammock camping on a lake in Central FloridaHammock camping on a lake in Central Florida
Milky Way over Big Bend National Park, TexasMilky Way over Big Bend National Park, Texas
Young stars forming in the Tarantula Nebula, James Webb Space TelescopeYoung stars forming in the Tarantula Nebula, James Webb Space Telescope

Today on Bing

Great Blue Hole, Belize

Great Blue Hole, Belize

Feb 18, 2025
Sperm whale pod surfacing, Dominica

Sperm whale pod surfacing, Dominica

Feb 18, 2024
Eben Ice Caves, Upper Peninsula, Michigan

Eben Ice Caves, Upper Peninsula, Michigan

Feb 18, 2023
Great tits on a branch during winter in France

Great tits on a branch during winter in France

Feb 18, 2022
Stones in a river near the hamlet of Lavertezzo, in the Valle Verzasca of Switzerland

Stones in a river near the hamlet of Lavertezzo, in the Valle Verzasca of Switzerland

Feb 18, 2021
Cumulus clouds over the Caribbean

Cumulus clouds over the Caribbean

Feb 18, 2019

Related Tags

astronomy sky landscape nature outdoor night night sky star dark grass tree cloud mountain outdoor object cave lightning sunset rock moon indoor
Share photo
Share
Pin
Tweet
Line
  • © 2025 Peapix.com
  • API
  • App
  • Privacy
The images are provided for wallpaper use only.