Pluto's Sputnik Planum (IMAGE)

International Astronomical Union

Pluto's Sputnik Planum

Caption

This high-resolution image was captured by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft on its Pluto flyby in 2015, combining blue, red, and infrared images taken by the Ralph/Multispectral Visual Imaging Camera (MVIC). The bright region in the west is part of Pluto's 'heart', and is rich in nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane ices.

Credit

NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

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