Washington: Remember last July when Pluto sent a 'love not' back to Earth via NASA's New Horizons spacecraft?
On Valentine's Day, February 14, the US space agency presented this stunning view of one of Pluto's most dominant features – informally named the heart – along with some other spectacular photos as it marked the spirit of love.
And on this #Valentine's Day, let's not forget Pluto's big heart: https://t.co/mfvZO7UXT5 @NASANewHorizons pic.twitter.com/rw40AXAvbH
— NASA (@NASA) February 15, 2016
At about 4 p.m. EDT on July 13 - about 16 hours before closest approach - New Horizons captured this stunning image of Pluto's heart-shaped landscape.
NASA also shared a breathtaking image in the form of a spinning vortex of Saturn's north polar storm resembling a deep red rose of giant proportions surrounded by green foliage in a false-color image from Cassini spacecraft.
Happy #Valentine's Day. Share 'The Rose,' a spinning vortex of Saturn's north polar storm: https://t.co/8MHx5pBugw pic.twitter.com/0lPXEp0VAH
— NASA (@NASA) February 14, 2016
According to NASA, the images were taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on November 27, 2012, using a combination of spectral filters sensitive to wavelengths of near-infrared light.
NASA also tweeted a infrared portrait from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope displaying generation of stars. In this wispy star-forming region, called W5, the oldest stars can be seen as blue dots in the centers of the two hollow cavities (other blue dots are background and foreground stars not associated with the region).
Celestial #Valentines! Generations of stars can be seen in this wispy star-forming region: https://t.co/SnrNMtYvPQ pic.twitter.com/1gxbC6u5nh
— NASA (@NASA) February 14, 2016
NASA's special Valentine's treat also includes – a heart-shaped crater on the surface of Mars, a rose made of galaxies.
