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| Image: Pluto(Planet) PIC By NASA |
United States Space Agency Amazing images from NASA are routinely posted on its social media channels. The internet was taken aback when the agency recently posted a rainbow-coloured photograph of a heavenly body on its Instagram account. Pluto is a spherical object that resembles a planet and is located at the outermost point of our solar system. In the image released by NASA, Pluto is seen in numerous regions with beautiful rainbow-like colours.
The rainbow's end is where? "This translated colour image was made by New Horizons scientists to illustrate the very tiny colour distinctions across the planet's diverse areas. Pluto isn't truly a kaleidoscopic explosion of hues," NASA wrote in the statement.
It went on to say that Pluto's surface is "complex and diverse, with jumbled mountains reminiscent of Europa, networks of carved-out valleys, old, deeply cratered topography resting right next to fresh, flat frozen plains, and even what may be wind-blown dunes."
The image was taken by the 2006-launched New Horizons spacecraft. In the summer of 2015, according to NASA, the spacecraft studied Pluto and its moons during a six-month flyby. The spacecraft moves farther into the Kuiper Belt as it continues to study the far-off solar system.
Over 7.8 lakh people have liked the post in only one day. Users may be seen praising Pluto's beauty and the space agency's choice of colour scheme.
One person said, "Oh my gosh, this is so wonderful." Added another "Congratulations to Pluto on his debut! Happy for you, buddy."
Pluto's classification was reduced to that of a dwarf planet by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 2019 because it did not match the three requirements the organisation employs to identify a full-sized planet.
The IAU defines a full-sized planet as one that meets the following three criteria: it orbits the Sun, it has enough mass to reach hydrostatic equilibrium (a roughly spherical form), and it has "cleared the neighbourhood" surrounding its orbit. Pluto did not satisfy the third requirement.