Charon: Moon of Pluto
A darkened and mysterious north polar region
informally known as
Mordor Macula caps this premier high-resolution
portrait
of Charon, Pluto's largest moon.
Captured by New Horizons near its closest
approach on July 14, the image data was transmitted
to Earth on September 21.
The combined blue, red,
and infrared data is processed to enhance colors,
following variations in surface properties
with a resolution of about 2.9 kilometers (1.8 miles).
In fact, Charon is 1,214 kilometers (754 miles) across,
about 1/10th the size of planet Earth but a whopping 1/2 the diameter of
Pluto
itself.
That makes it the largest satellite relative to its planet
in the solar system.
This remarkable image of Charon's Pluto-facing hemisphere
shows a clearer view of an apparently
moon-girdling belt of
fractures and canyons that seems to
separate smooth southern plains from varied northern terrain.