Space artist Don Dixon posted this uncanny juxtaposition of images on his
website
cosmographica.com on July 13, 2015. Space artists base their work on factual information,
but, in this case, Dixon did an amazing job capturing an object whose true
surface would not be revealed for another 36 years. Dixon wrote on his website:
I’d like to claim prophetic powers, but the painting was guided by the
reasonable assumption that Pluto likely has a periodically active atmosphere
that distributes powdery exotic frosts into lowland areas. The reddish color
of the higher features is caused by tholins – hydrocarbons common in the outer
solar system. The partial circular arcs would be caused by flooding of craters
by slushy exotic ices. Pluto is apparently more orange than I painted it,
however; I assumed the exotic ices would push colors more into the whites and
grays.
