180-pluto-perihelion-dixon – This scene depicts the surface of Pluto during its perihelion passage, when its eccentric orbit brings it closest to the Sun. Nitrogen and methane glaciations coat the foreground landscape, with delicate icicles suspended from low ice shelves under a faint, sublimating atmospheric haze. The brilliant Sun sits low on the horizon, flanked by bright parhelia (mock suns) or optical glares caused by airborne ice crystals, while the crescent moon Charon hangs high in the dark sky above. acrylic and gouache, 1980
Click to open this image within the album!
