The mosaic strip that extends across the hemisphere that faced the New Horizons spacecraft as it flew past Pluto now includes all of the highest-resolution images taken by the NASA probe. Image credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI.

Fly over NASA’s greatest ever view of Pluto

The most distant world ever imaged by fly-by reveals a richer terrain than anyone ever expected.

“The cosmic game changed forever in 1992. Before then, logic told us that there had to be other planets besides the nine (if you still count poor Pluto) in our solar system, but until that year, when two astronomers detected faint, telltale radio signals in the constellation Virgo, we had no hard evidence of their existence.” -Thomas Mallon

After nearly a decade’s-long journey, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft flew past Pluto on July 14, 2015.

A high-resolution view of Pluto’s surface close up, including a large portion of Sputnik Planum, the heart-shaped bright, icy region. Image credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI.

It passed within 12,500 km (7,800 miles) of the surface, making it the closest fly-by of any object past Saturn.

Although it will take a full 16 months to send the full suite of data home, the highest resolution images show an incredible diversity of terrain, including: