Sure, you've seen Pluto. But have you seen Pluto ... on principal component analysis?
That's the statistical technique used by NASA to highlight differences
in the color of the dwarf planet's surface that might not be obvious to
the naked eye. Think of it like turning the contrast way up, but
scientifically. The image was taken from about 22,000 miles away on July
14 by the New Horizons probe, which is now well on its way to the rocky
Kuiper Belt.
By making these slight differences in color extra-obvious (even more than the enhanced color photo),
patterns emerge that otherwise may seem to be just noise or random
features. Compare the colorful version above with the true-color version
below and see how patterns jump out at you.
New Horizons may be millions of miles past Pluto, but it's still beaming
information to scientists at NASA, where planetologists and astronomers
are busy picking it apart for juicy new insights. Expect more
interesting imagery and discoveries to keep showing up for quite a while
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