More revelations about Pluto have surfaced this week. The recent images revealed a unique red bull's eye pattern on one of Pluto's smaller moons, while huge craters have been spotted on the other smaller moon. This is according to CBC's reports on NASA's Pluto exploration. 

Like Us on Facebook

Apparently, the New Horizons spacecraft spotted smaller moons orbiting Pluto. The enhanced color images revealed a reddish region on the Nix, the moon that is oddly shaped like a jelly bean.  There is a crater that looks like a bull's eye pattern as well.

More data will still have to be gathered on how the Nix looks like. A report from Gizmodo said that the image shots have been taken 165,000 kilometers away from the New Horizons spacecraft. The Nix's width is 36 kilometers, while its height is 42 kilometers.

Southwest Research Institute's mission scientist Carly Howett said that more observations still need to be done to find out more about the smaller moons on Pluto. "This observation is so tantalizing, that I am finding it hard to be patient for more data to be downlinked," Howett further said. The upcoming data will include chemical information on what makes the Nix red. 

CBS has some interesting news on the other smaller moon in Pluto, the Hydra. Unlike its colorful counterpart, the Hydra is only black and white. The first shots were taken 231,000 kilometers away from the spacecraft.  It is estimated to be 55 kilometers long and 40 kilometers wide.

Two large craters were spotted on the Hydra, the other crater was shadowy. Ted Stryk, one of the mission science collaborators from the Roane State Community College, Tennessee, reported that the Hydra has a rocky and ice-rich composition. The upper portion of the Hydra has a darker hue than the lower portion. Therefore, the rockier parts are on the upper portion while the icier parts are on the lower portion of this moon. 

Jim Green, NASA's director on its planetary sciences division further stated that there will be a new bunch of images on Pluto and its moons that are to be released soon. The future images will feature the mountains and plains on the surface of the planet. "It'll be pretty spectacular," Green assured.

TagsPluto, Pluto exploration, Pluto smaller moons, Nix and Hydra, Nix, Hydra