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PIA20287: Pluto's Moon Nix, Half Illuminated
This recently received panchromatic image of Pluto's small satellite Nix taken by NASA's New Horizons is one of the best images of Pluto's third-largest moon.
 Target Name:  Pluto
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  New Horizons 
 Spacecraft:  New Horizons
 Instrument:  MVIC 
 Product Size:  1042 x 1024 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Johns Hopkins University/APL 
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA20287.tif (476 kB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA20287.jpg (26.11 kB)  

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

This recently received panchromatic image of Pluto's small satellite Nix taken by the Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC) aboard New Horizons is one of the best images of Pluto's third-largest moon generated by the NASA mission. Taken on July 14, 2015, at a range of about 14,000 miles (23,000 kilometers) from Nix, the illuminated surface is about 12 miles (19 kilometers) by 29 miles (47 kilometers). The unique perspective of this image provides new details about Nix's geologic history and impact record.

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, designed, built, and operates the New Horizons spacecraft, and manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. The Southwest Research Institute, based in San Antonio, leads the science team, payload operations and encounter science planning. New Horizons is part of the New Frontiers Program managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Image Credit:
NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

Image Addition Date:
2015-12-18