New Planet Landscape

Finally. Images beamed back from some bizarre landscape.

The surface of Pluto? No, New Horizons did a Pluto flyby in 2015, but it did not stop or drop a lander.

The surface of Mars? Well, we do have craft on the ground there. And there's evidence of ice under the surface, both on Mars and in these images.

Only that's not land. That's lake.

Actually, there was a satellite orbiting the planet and taking images. The icy shoreline is a thin ring around a mostly ice-free body of water.

Yet there is clear evidence the planet is getting steadily hotter.

Though these landscapes look other-worldly, they're along the shoreline of Lake Michigan. In the image below, the St. Joseph, MI, lighthouse is in the distance, with the pierhead light to its right under the evening sun. The ridgeline to the far right, with a veneer of sand on it, is offshore ice. Meanwhile, the exposed roots of the dune grass give testimony to previous high water.

The other way, opposite the sun, the spectacle continues.

Time Stamp: February 20, 2016