Charon, Pluto’s Big Moon Revealed in All Its Rugged Glory

Pluto’s big moon Charon reveals a colourful and violent history, says NASA.

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft captured this high-resolution enhanced color view of Pluto’s big moon Charon. (Courtesy: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI)

Pluto’s big moon, Charon, is being revealed in all its rugged glory.

NASA released the best colour pictures yet of Charon on Thursday. The images were taken by the New Horizons spacecraft during its flyby of Pluto in July and transmitted to Earth 1½ weeks ago.

Massive canyons and fractures are clearly visible on Charon, which is more than half of Pluto’s size. The canyons stretch more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) above the equator, across the entire face of Charon. These canyons are four times as long as the Grand Canyon and, in places, twice as deep.

This composite of enhanced color images of Pluto (lower right) and Charon (upper left). (Courtesy: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI)