New Speckly Image Shows Non-Planet Pluto In the Sharpest Detail Yet
Pluto and Charon This speckle image reconstruction of Pluto and Charon was obtained in visible light with the Gemini North 8-meter telescope using the Differential Speckle Survey Instrument (DSSI). Resolution of the image is about 20 milliarcseconds rms (root mean square). North is up, east is to the left, and the image section shown here is 1.39 arcseconds across. Gemini ObservatoryIt may be blurry, but it's a feat for ground-based observations in visible light - and it could help verify possible exoplanets around other stars. This blurry image of Pluto and Charon may not seem that impressive at first glance, but consider this: The resolution here is equivalent to separating a pair of car headlights in Providence, Rhode Island, from a viewing spot in San Francisco. This is the clearest image ever taken in visible light of our favorite dwarf planet and its largest companion. Scientists using the Gemini Observatory used the...