Optical image of the planet Pluto (centre) and its large moon Charon (lower left),taken with the Hubble Space Telescope's Faint Object Camera. Pluto is the ninth & smallest planet in the solar system. Discovered in 1930 at Lowell Observatory by Clyde Tombaugh,it has a 248 year orbit around the sun. The moon,Charon,was discovered in 1977. Its 6-day orbit around Pluto is a circle seen almost edge-on from Earth. At the time of the observation,Charon was near its maximum angular separation from Pluto; about 0.9 arc seconds. Both Pluto & Charon are cold,rocky bodies. Pluto is thought to be coated with methane frost,whereas Charon is probably covered with water ice | |
Licence : | Droits gérés |
Crédit: | Science Photo Library / NASA |
Taille de l’image : | 3543 px × 3290 px |
Model Release : | Non requis |
Property Release : | Non requis |
Restrictions : | - |