Pluto has finally arrived...

... and holy frack it's awesome!

I've been excited about New Horizons for ages, but now I'm completely riveted by this extraordinary mission. From the first glimmers and mysteries, Pluto has consistently leapfrogged our expectations, but the surprises have only just begun.

The surface is incredibly smooth, inferring active volcanism or tectonics, but without tidal heating (possibly on Charon too). That's game changing. And when it isn't smooth, it's huge. Ice mountains (water ice, no less) the size of the Rockies!

Plus, now it's even harder to "simply walk into Mordor" (or meet Cthulhu).

The instantly iconic full frame image of Pluto taken by the New Horizons probe mid-2015
Hello, beautiful 😁

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  • Murray Champernowne.
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