Watch this beautifully rendered animation of the historic New Horizons Pluto flyby on July 14, 2015. From software engineer and “advanced amateur planetary image processor” Björn Jónsson:
The time covered is 09:35 to 13:35 (closest approach occurred near 11:50). Pluto’s atmosphere is included and should be fairly realistic from about 10 seconds into the animation and to the end. Earlier it is largely just guesswork that can be improved in the future once all data has been downlinked from the spacecraft. Light from Pluto’s satellite Charon illuminates Pluto’s night side but is exaggerated here, in reality it would be only barely visible or not visible at all. The field of view is 12.5 degrees.
Enjoy Jónsson’s simulated views of planets, moons, and more on Vimeo.
Watch this next: Fast and Light to Pluto – The New Horizons spacecraft’s flyby.via @elakdawalla.
Curated, kid-friendly, independently-published. Support this mission by becoming a sustaining member today.