Featured Map for 10 July 2015:
The Whale and Heart

If you think The Whale and Heart sounds like the name of an out-of-this-world place to have a cold one, you're right, thought it might be a little colder than you'd like at -223 C (-369°F) on a warm day—below the freezing point of nitrogen! A hot toddy or just some hot coffee might be a better libation to celebrate arrival after the 9.5-year journey.

"Whale" and "Heart" are the names of two features on Pluto revealed in the past few days by imagery from NASA's New Horizons mission. Today's Featured Map highlights these features in a view centered on the approximate closest approach (C/A) point of the New Horizons flyby which will occur next Tuesday at 7:49:57 am EDT.

Much-higher resolution data should become available after the flyby (including imagery of the southern hemisphere which is currently missing) and the Great Circle Mapper's maps of Pluto will be updated accordingly.

References and additional information:

• NASA
  • New Horizons
  • New Horizons Map of Pluto: The Whale and the Donut
  • NASA's New Horizons: A "Heart" from Pluto as Flyby Begins
  • Pluto Flyby - 14 July 2015
  • January 19, 2006: New Horizons Launches for Pluto
• How cold is it on Pluto?
• File:Milky Way Night Sky Black Rock Desert Nevada.jpg – Wikipedia – source for Milky Way image