Pluto

Good news! We'll soon have the best pictures ever of the planet Pluto. That's right, Bill Nye, it's a planet. In your face, planet killer.

How and when to watch the flyby

At 7:30 a.m. ET, NASA will start streaming the flyby of Pluto on NASA TV. The stream doesn't offer live video because of the distance from Earth. But, the stream shows a simulated version of what NASA sees with a preview of what the flypast, estimated to take place at 7:49 a.m. ET, will reveal.

Scientists expect the craft to "phone home" by 9 p.m. Tuesday with real footage, including some highly anticipated images.

OK,  the version they're going to show at 7:30 AM is a simulated version of what they think is going to happen... So why do we have to wait until 7:30 AM to watch it? In fact, why watch a guess of what the planet will look like at all? We'll soon have pictures of the real thing.

And the best stuff will be the surprises. What's the surface going to look like? Are there monoliths? Is there evidence of of an evil lair?  Abandoned water parks?