Psychedelic Pluto

Psychedelic Pluto
Astronomers working on New Horizons have released a false color picture of Pluto to highlight subtle differences in soil composition between the dwarf planet’s distinct regions.
The image was produced using a technique called principal component analysis. The true colors (which, to the naked eye, appear very similar) are given new values that are independent from each other, and can make them appear different. In this way, the variation of Pluto’s surface can be highlighted more easily.

Source & further reading:
http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/psychedelic-pluto
Image Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

#nasa   #space   #newhorizons   #pluto