You Have To See These New Photos Of Sunset On Pluto

“Major” planet or not, Pluto is an amazing body in our solar system.

NASA has released new photos of Pluto taken by the New Horizon spacecraft. Zoomed-in, close-up views show what appears to be a bank of foggy haze just above the surface, laced with multiple sharp shadows of nearby peaks.

“This image really makes you feel you are there, at Pluto, surveying the landscape for yourself”, said Alan Stern, New Horizons Principal Investigator, of the Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colo.

As we dive into the vast array of observations gradually being streamed back from New Horizons after its close encounter, we’re seeing a complex Pluto that is way more dynamic than we ever dreamed.

The spectacular photo of Pluto as a crescent was taken 15 minutes after New Horizons made its closest approach with the small body on July 14. The smooth expanse of an icy plain known informally as Sputnik Planum can be seen on the right, while the mountains to the left rise up to around 11,000 ft (3,500m) high.

This is, hands down, one of the most beautiful planetary images ever.

“In addition to being visually stunning, these low-lying hazes hint at the weather changing from day to day on Pluto, just like it does here on Earth”, said Will Grundy, lead of the New Horizons Composition.

Making a comparison between Pluto and earth, experts also commented why some of the planets features are “surprisingly earth-like”.

When the world first got a real glimpse of Pluto back in July, it was a true global cultural moment, full of scientific wonder and carrying the reminder that space exploration is still crucially important. “If an artist had painted this Pluto before our flyby, I probably would have called it over the top – but that’s what is actually there”.

The spacecraft began a year-long data dump earlier this month, allowing scientists to resume their analysis of the world’s fascinating topography and tenous atmosphere. The probe is on its way to 2014 MU69, another object in the Kuiper Belt that it could reach by 2019 as part of an extended mission that requires more funding from NASA.