Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2025 May 19 Your browser does not support the video tag. Alt text: A flyover of Pluto's Moon Charon is shown from the New Horizons spacecraft. Charon Flyover from New Horizons Video Credit: [2]NASA, [3]JHUAPL, [4]SwRI, P. Schenk & J. Blackwell ([5]LPI); Music: [6]Juicy by ALBIS Explanation: What if you could fly over [7]Pluto's moon Charon -- what might you see? The New Horizons spacecraft did just this in 2015 July as it [8]zipped past Pluto and [9]Charon with cameras blazing. The images recorded allowed for a digital reconstruction of much of [10]Charon's surface, further enabling the creation of fictitious flights over Charon created from this data. One such fanciful, minute-long, time-lapse video is [11]shown here with vertical heights and colors of surface features digitally enhanced. Your journey begins over a wide chasm that divides different types of [12]Charon's landscapes, a chasm that might have formed when [13]Charon froze through. You soon turn [14]north and fly over a colorful depression dubbed [15]Mordor that, one hypothesis holds, is an [16]unusual remnant from an ancient impact. [17]Your voyage continues over an [18]alien landscape rich with never-before-seen craters, mountains, and [19]crevices. The robotic [20]New Horizons spacecraft has too much [21]momentum to ever return to [22]Pluto and Charon and is now [23]headed out of our [24]Solar System. Portal Universe: [25]Random APOD Generator Tomorrow's picture: volcano sky __________________________________________________________________ [26]< | [27]Archive | [28]Submissions | [29]Index | [30]Search | [31]Calendar | [32]RSS | [33]Education | [34]About APOD | [35]Discuss | [36]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [37]Robert Nemiroff ([38]MTU) & [39]Jerry Bonnell ([40]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [41]Specific rights apply. [42]NASA Web Privacy, [43]Accessibility, [44]Notices; A service of: [45]ASD at [46]NASA / [47]GSFC, [48]NASA Science Activation & [49]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://www.nasa.gov/ 3. http://www.jhuapl.edu/ 4. http://www.swri.org/ 5. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/ 6. https://www.last.fm/music/Albis/_/Juicy 7. https://science.nasa.gov/dwarf-planets/pluto/ 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250518.html 9. https://science.nasa.gov/dwarf-planets/pluto/moons/charon/ 10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charon_(moon) 11. https://science.nasa.gov/resource/flyover-pluto-moon-charon/ 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap151002.html 13. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/pluto-s-big-moon-charon-reveals-a-colorful-and-violent-history 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200407.html 15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordor_Macula 16. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/15/science/pluto-moon-charon.html 17. https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/964jz1/dog_surfing_on_a_wave_on_ocean_sea_on_summer/#lightbox 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140826.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201129.html 20. https://www.nasa.gov/image/ames/take-new-horizons-for-a-spin-and-print-your-own-model 21. http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Physics-Interactives/Momentum-and-Collisions/Collision-Carts/Collision-Carts-Interactive 22. https://science.nasa.gov/dwarf-planets/pluto/facts/ 23. https://www.nasa.gov/missions/new-horizons/nasas-new-horizons-to-continue-exploring-outer-solar-system/ 24. https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/ 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/random_apod.html 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250518.html 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 30. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 32. https://apod.com/feed.rss 33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 35. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250519 36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250520.html 37. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 38. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 39. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 40. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 41. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 42. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 43. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 44. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/ 45. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 46. https://www.nasa.gov/ 47. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 48. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 49. http://www.mtu.edu/