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Bruce Murray Space Image Library

New Horizons spies Pluto and Charon, July 2014

New Horizons spies Pluto and Charon, July 2014
New Horizons spies Pluto and Charon, July 2014 This animation of Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, was taken by New Horizons spacecraft as it traveled toward Pluto in July 2014. Covering almost one full rotation of Charon around Pluto, the 12 images that make up the movie were taken July 19-24 with the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) at distances ranging from about 429 million to 422 million kilometers. NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI
New Horizons spies Pluto and Charon, July 2014 (zoom)
New Horizons spies Pluto and Charon, July 2014 (zoom) Image: NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI

 

Here is a simulation showing the behavior of the two worlds around their barycenter:

New Horizons spies Pluto and Charon, July 2014 (simulated view)
New Horizons spies Pluto and Charon, July 2014 (simulated view) Image: APL / New Horizons GeoViz