Contact: Eliot Young 303-546-6806
Pluto and its satellite Charon regularly occulted or transited each other's disks from 1985 through 1990. The light curves resulting from these events (collectively called " mutual events ") have been used to determine albedo maps of Pluto's sub-Charon hemisphere. We now use a data set of four light curves that were obtained in both B and V Johnson filters to construct a two-color map of Pluto's surface. We are able to resolve the central part of Pluto's sub-Charon hemisphere. We find that the dark albedo feature that forms a band below Pluto's equator is comprised of several distinct color units. We detect ratios of V-filter/B-filter normal reflectances ranging from"' 1.15 to"' 1.39 on Pluto's sub-Charon hemisphere.
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