Summary of The Final Images We Will Ever See of Pluto and Arrokoth

00:00:00 - 00:30:00

The video discusses the final images that will ever be seen of Pluto and its moons, including the discovery of Arrokoth. Arrokoth is a reddish, elongated object that is unlike any other type of asteroid or comet that has ever been observed. It was discovered by scientists observing its occultation of a star three years after leaving Pluto, and was visited by the New Horizons spacecraft in January 2019. The spacecraft was able to capture high-resolution images of the object that reveal that it has methanol on its surface, which is the main factor behind its red color.

• 00:00:00 The New Horizons probe flew by Pluto in 2015 and discovered that the dwarf planet's moons are unusual and that Pluto and Charon orbit around a common point in space. The probe also discovered that Charon is much darker than Pluto and that they are not from the same origin.
• 00:05:00 The video showcases images of Pluto and its largest feature, the "Sputnik Planitia" heart-shaped ice plain. It is confirmed that 98% of Pluto's surface is composed of nitrogen ice, which is much different from the other types of ice present on the planet. Nearby are vast mountain ranges of water ice. Cryovolcanoes are hinted to be present on Pluto, and it is revealed that the dark material on the surface is tholin deposits.
• 00:10:00 New Horizons has confirmed that Pluto has an atmosphere and that it can vary in density by up to four times over the course of a year due to seasonal fluctuations. The tholins found on Pluto and Charon are evidence of cryovolcanism on these planets.
• 00:15:00 The video discusses the final images that will ever be seen of Pluto and its moons, including the discovery of Arrokoth. Arrokoth was discovered after the Pluto flyby and was chosen because it was the first object discovered after the spacecraft was launched. As a result, it was the first object that was visited that was discovered after it was launched.
• 00:20:00 Arrokoth is a reddish, elongated object that is unlike any other type of asteroid or comet that has ever been observed. It was discovered by scientists observing its occultation of a star three years after leaving Pluto, and was visited by the New Horizons spacecraft in January 2019. The spacecraft was able to capture high-resolution images of the object that reveal that it has methanol on its surface, which is the main factor behind its red color. There is still a mystery surrounding the spectra of Arrokoth, as scientists don't know what the compound is that has an absorption band at 1.8 μm.
• 00:25:00 The final images of Pluto and Arrokoth show the two lobes of the object that have merged together. Volatile substances may have built up in the region around the connecting point between the two lobes, leading to the brighter patch. The flatness of Arrokoth may be due to centrifugal forces when the lobes formed or to the way it orbits and rotates, which would cause one side of the object to be constantly exposed to the Sun. New Horizons is still capable of performing some unique types of astrophysics, including observations of Uranus, Neptune, and dwarf planets and searches for free-floating black holes and the local interstellar medium.
• 00:30:00 This video showcases the final images of Pluto and Arrokoth, two Kuiper Belt objects that New Horizons has already explored. Beyond that, the spacecraft has uncovered new information about other Kuiper Belt objects that was unknown before.