Mental Floss

The Lighter Side of the Pluto Flyby

ByMiss Cellania|
NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute
NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute | NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

This image is of Pluto and its moon Charon in false color, taken July 13.

If you’ve read the posts 10 Fast Facts About New Horizons and Waiting for Pluto Pics from New Horizons? Watch This! then you know that the New Horizons probe flew by the planetoid yesterday. That doesn’t mean it’s finished taking pictures, but it is now moving away from Pluto. It will be a day or so before all the photos of the nearest approach reach the public, but while we wait, let’s share some important Pluto images people have been sharing around the internet.

That’s not really fair, since we dissed Pluto by demoting it from a planet to a dwarf planet in 2006.

In this Tweet from Disney, you can see clearly how Pluto got its name.

Peanuts has a different take on which dog the planet is projecting.

Randall Munroe of xkcd has already identified some of the details in the latest image.

Sarcastic Rover has its own opinions, as always, from its vantage point on Mars.

Advertisers wasted no time getting in on the act.

And of course, the flyby has ignited a campaign to get Pluto restored to planet status.

I think we’re all for that, if only for nostalgia purposes. But restoration is not a matter for the masses. It’s not exactly up for a vote, as the Awkward Yeti heartbreakingly illustrates.

But the images are coming in, and we excitedly await the latest from New Horizons. You can keep up with the latest at the New Horizons website.