The Tombaugh Regio, nicknamed “Pluto’s Heart” (pictured above), is one of the most extensively studied features of the dwarf planet. Thanks to NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, we can get a closer glimpse into the heart-shaped bright spot on Pluto’s surface.
More recently, New Horizons Principal Investigator Alan Stern has theorized that Tombaugh Regio is the result of a violent impact. Furthermore, the impactor that could’ve caused such a massive crater is likely somewhere in the range of 10 km across.
The New Horizons flyby has given us a look at Pluto that we could’ve never achieved using telescopes near or on Earth. We could certainly stand to learn more about the diverse geological surface of Pluto if we could get a satellite in orbit around the dwarf planet.
Clayton Harrell - Astronomy 2110 
The new images of Pluto are amazing! You’re right, the detail available just from New Horizons should whet the appetite of any astronomer interested in studying the features of a dwarf planet that orbits so much farther out from the Sun.
Monica
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