Pluto's Peaks

Flynn says of the work: "Inspired by photos of the icy Elcano Montes taken by the New Horizons spacecraft, this view imagines a mountain range at a location on Pluto where - unlike the Elcano Montes - Charon would be visible in the sky. On Pluto, methane frost does not fall as snow, it condenses on only the highest peaks. Made of rock-hard water ice, the Plutonian mountains and rocks are colored reddish brown by hydrocarbon particles drifting down from the thin, hazy blue atmosphere. In this view, Charon's north pole is tipped to the right, while tiny potato shaped moons (from top to bottom) Nix, Styx, and Hydra tumble in the sky. The scenery used as a reference for this painting might look familiar to anyone who has hiked on the Humphreys Trail in the San Francisco Peaks of Flagstaff, Arizona, near the artist's home."

Marilynn Flynn is a Fellow and Founding Member of the International Association of Astronomical Artists.