A current event in science / technology / astronomy garnered the attention of many humans this week as the New Horizons spacecraft completed a long-awaited close encounter with Pluto, the outermost planet (or a "dwarf planet" by some measures) among our planet's universal neighbors. It has been generally reported in various media that this occurrence completes the initial survey of our (i.e. mankind's) native solar system.
The image shown above illustrates the New Horizons flyby of Pluto at about 1/10th of second past its closest approach while blasting through the outer reaches of Earth's solar system at nearly 31K mph. One of the first publicly available images from this event is a fitting conclusion to this expertly presented summary of the solar system produced by the L.A. Times which utilizes phenomenal content from NASA and ESA. Everything at least remotely associated with the New Horizons project is easily seen online, and a good starting point is the amazing NASA's Eyes web site where the most recent Pluto imaging results are shared. The following image of Charon, a primary moon of Pluto, was created less than two hours prior to this closest encounter event.
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