  The exploration of the Pluto-Charon system by the New Horizons spacecraft
represents the first opportunity to understand the distribution of albedo and
other photometric properties of the surfaces of objects in the Solar System's
"Third Zone" of distant ice-rich bodies. Images of the entire illuminated
surface of Pluto and Charon obtained by the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager
(LORRI) camera provide a global map of Pluto that reveals surface albedo
variegations larger than any other Solar System world except for Saturn's moon
Iapetus. Normal reflectances on Pluto range from 0.08-1.0, and the low-albedo
areas of Pluto are darker than any region of Charon. Charon exhibits a much
blander surface with normal reflectances ranging from 0.20-0.73. Pluto's albedo
features are well-correlated with geologic features, although some exogenous
low-albedo dust may be responsible for features seen to the west of the area
informally named Tombaugh Regio. The albedo patterns of both Pluto and Charon
are latitudinally organized, with the exception of Tombaugh Regio, with darker
regions concentrated at the Pluto's equator and Charon's northern pole The
phase curve of Pluto is similar to that of Triton, the large moon of Neptune
believed to be a captured Kuiper Belt Object (KBO), while Charon's is similar
to that of the Moon. Preliminary Bond albedos are 0.25+/-0.03 for Charon and
0.72+/-0.07 for Pluto. Maps of an approximation to the Bond albedo for both
Pluto and Charon are presented for the first time. Our work shows a connection
between very high albedo (near unity) and planetary activity, a result that
suggests the KBO Eris may be currently active.
