Nickname and hydra

New Horizons photographed two Pluto satellites

The Interplanetary Station New Horizons photographed near Niktu and Hydra - two out of five satellites of the dwarf planet Pluto. The pictures were taken July 14, and a few days later they reached the ground.

Nikta and Hydra are approximately the same size, but on this their similarities end, NASA notes. Niktu (in the photo on the left) was photographed in color, after which they improved the saturation of the image. New Horizons was 165 thousand kilometers from the satellite. The length of the nickname is estimated at 42 kilometers, and the width is 36 kilometers.

As you can see, there is a pink spot on nickname. Scientists believe that a crater is located in this place. New Horizons received additional data on nickname, which will allow the redness of this region to explain, but the information has not yet been transferred to Earth.

On the right there is a black and white photograph of the hydra, taken from a distance of 231 thousand kilometers. The picture shows two large craters, one of which is almost completely in the shade. Scientists estimate the size of a satellite of 55 by 40 kilometers and believe that the composition of the surface differs in different areas (perhaps because of this the upper part of the hydra looks darker).

Until mid -October, New Horizons should convey photos of two more satellites of Pluto, Stiks and Kerber.