
New Horizons Returns First of the Best Images of Pluto - darrhiggs
http://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-horizons-returns-first-of-the-best-images-of-pluto
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dmd
Is "6 miles" a standard unit of length?

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amoruso
I'm guessing it was originally 10 km. Someone probably added a scale bar in km
and then was told to change the label to US customary units.

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p1mrx
I get that 'murica is too stubborn to go full metric, but can't we at least
start switching from "Imperial (Metric)" to "Metric (Imperial)" in the popular
science media?

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cmpb
For what it's worth, using the term "'Murica" in your post comes across as
demeaning, and is thus inappropriate for HN.

Given that the image is a product of an American-led project, it seems
perfectly reasonable (however unfortunate for the scientific community at
large) that standard American units would be used to describe it.

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ars
> however unfortunate for the scientific community at large

Why is it unfortunate? What difference does it make? The units are completely
unimportant. Units are a completely arbitrary thing, it's quite irrelevant
what you use as long as you know what you are using.

You will never find a real scientist complaining about them, you convert to
whatever is easiest for your task and move on. The only people who complain
about units are those for which the units make no difference - like the person
who you replied to. If those units said any other number would it make event
the tiniest bit of different to him? No it would not. That picture could say
6km, or 6leagues and it would make zero difference to him.

It's a form of bikeshedding - people won't talk about anything important
because that's too complicated. But the units are easy and make you seem like
you are "in the know".

But actually it does not do that, all it does is let everyone else know you
have nothing more worthwhile to contribute.

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bootload
_" Why is it unfortunate? What difference does it make? The units are
completely unimportant. Units are a completely arbitrary thing, it's quite
irrelevant what you use as long as you know what you are using."_

In space [0], units matter ~
[https://www.google.com/search?q=nasa+technical+problem+units...](https://www.google.com/search?q=nasa+technical+problem+units&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8)

[0] And in reporting of news for technical accuracy.

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codezero
That's an amazingly active surface!

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soperj
Anyone know what the composition of the ice is?

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sohkamyung
Phil 'Bad Astronomer' Plait says the mountains are made of water-ice, the
plains of nitrogen-ice [1]: "Pluto is so cold water ice is hard as rock, and
can form mountains thousands of meters tall. The bright plain was probably
lower elevation terrain which filled with nitrogen, which is much less rigid
than water at these temperatures. It can flow like glaciers do on Earth. So
what you’re seeing there is a shoreline! It really looks like one, too, with
the nitrogen ice meeting the highlands at a “constant sea level”."

[1]
[http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2015/12/05/pluto_hi...](http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2015/12/05/pluto_highest_resolution_new_horizons_images_yet.html)

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skykooler
The flat plains look like they have dunes on them!

