New Horizons data yield new density measure for Pluto
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.029295
BBC : The first scientific paper has been published on the flyby of Pluto made by the New Horizons spacecraft. Key data include the measurement of Pluto’s radius of 1187 km. Because estimates of Pluto’s radius had been smaller than that, scientists say that the planet’s density is lower than previously thought and more similar to that of its main moon, Charon. The flyby has also revealed that the bulk rock compositions of the two objects are similar. From the data, scientists are working to understand how the two bodies formed and to determine the early conditions of that distant part of the solar system. Since it passed Pluto, New Horizons continues to send back data and has traveled more than 100 million km, so that it is now some 5 billion km from Earth.
