# @nasa on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/8Tc3DJoaAx
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/11737218-nasa-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/515cc2fe33.jpg
- **Posted:** 2015-10-01T17:48:25.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** NASA (@NASA) — https://gondola.cc/NASA

## Caption

Our New Horizons spacecraft has returned the best color and the highest resolution images yet of Pluto's largest moon, Charon - and these pictures show a surprisingly complex and violent history.  This high-resolution enhanced color view of Charon was captured just before closest approach on July 14. The image combines blue, red and infrared images; the colors are processed to best highlight the variation of surface properties across Charon. Charon's color palette is not as diverse as Pluto's; most striking is the reddish north (top) polar region, informally named Mordor Macula. Charon is 754 miles (1,214 kilometers) across; this image resolves details as small as 1.8 miles (2.9 kilometers). Many scientists expected Charon to be a monotonous, crater-battered world; instead, they're finding a landscape covered with mountains, canyons, landslides, surface-color variations and more.

Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

#nasa #space #newhorizons #plutoflyby #pluto #charon #nasabeyond #science

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 197,271
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- **Comments:** 1,467

## Tags

nasabeyond, science, nasa, charon, space, pluto, plutoflyby, newhorizons

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