NASA Releases Charon’s Close Up

This is the latest incredible image from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft. This is a high-resolution enhanced color view of Pluto’s moon Charon as seen by New Horizon on its closest approach on July 14, 2015.

It is particularly incredible when one considers that Charon was only discovered on July 7, 1978. We now have a close pass by and high resolution photos of the moon.

The orbit of Charon around Pluto is completed every 6.387 days and the two are gravitationally locked so the same face on Pluto and Charon continue to face each other. If that view appeals to you, the conditions might not. The average temperature is −220 °C (53 K). That is -364 Fahrenheit.