‘Something Wonderful’: First Close-Up Pictures Of Pluto Arrive

Bringing the blur of a distant world into sharp focus, NASA unveiled its first intimate images of Pluto on Wednesday, revealing with startling clarity an eerie realm where frozen water rises in mountains up to 11,000 feet high.

One close-up image featured what looks like a huge mountain range – which the panel of scientists present said was made of ice.

This Tuesday, July 14, 2015 image provided by NASA on Wednesday shows Pluto’s largest moon, Charon, made by the New Horizons spacecraft.

Scientists also said the “heart” feature of Pluto will now be known as the Tombaugh Regio, after Clyde Tombaugh, the discoverer of Pluto.

No doubt more revelations are in store for the New Horizons team as they pore over the probe’s data that was gathered during its recent flyby of the dwarf planet.

The close-up image shown in the picture was taken about 1.5 hours before New Horizons closest approach to Pluto, when the craft was 47,800 miles (77,000 km) away from the surface.

The presentation from John Spencer, also of SwRI, got the most oohs and aahs, though. Instead, a stiffer material, most likely water ice, created the peaks. This could mean that some other process is generating this complex landscape. It was obtained by the Ralph instrument on Nasa’s New Horizons spacecraft.

Scientists have noted that the surface is not yet heavily cratered, that could suggest that it’s been a relatively young surface in astronomical terms, spanning less than 100 million years.

The fly-by is a major landmark for space exploration with Pluto the last of the nine planets of the Solar System to be visited by a spacecraft from Earth.

Prof Hawking said on Facebook: “I would like to congratulate the New Horizons team and Nasa (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) for their historic fly-by of Pluto”. Scientists have confirmed the presence of a polar ice cap on Pluto, and have detected nitrogen escaping from its atmosphere.

PUTNAM COUNTY, New York – Highly anticipated photos of the dwarf planet Pluto revealed surprising images for scientists. Pluto takes 248 Earth years to orbit the sun, so one orbit spans the entirety of USA history. No impact craters. The lack of any craters on this part of the surface tells us it’s very young, in cosmic terms.

NASA’s New Horizons team is now reviewing more data and will be sharing it with us on Friday.