Pluto and Charon, in enhanced color, thanks to observations from New Horizons’ Ralph/Multispectral Visual Imaging Camera (MVIC). Pluto’s frozen surface is only part of the story; an ocean of subsurface water lurks far beneath the ice. (NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI)

Pluto’s Surface Changes Faster Than Earth’s, And A Subsurface Ocean Is Driving It

A single, complete view of half the world was enough to teach us how these distant, frozen bodies work.

On July 14, 2015, NASA’s New Horizons flew by Pluto.

Pluto’s atmosphere, as imaged by New Horizons when it flew into the distant world’s eclipse shadow. The atmospheric hazes are clearly visible, but the highest-resolution images were taken on the opposite, sun-facing side of Pluto. (NASA / JHUAPL / New Horizons / LORRI)

At a resolution of only 80 meters (260 feet) per pixel, Pluto was revealed at resolutions thousands of times better than Hubble.

Old, cratered terrain of the Plutonian highlands shows regions that have not changed much over long periods of time. (NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI)

Near the poles, we found cratered highlands: an old, level, icy surface.

The cratered region gives way to a hilly, scarred terrain in a transition region before we arrive at the Plutonian mountains. This is likely the start of a crater wall due to an older, massive impact.(NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI)

That terrain gives way, towards the equator, to hilly, ice-covered regions with scarred markings.

The mountains on Pluto, although spectacular, represent only a very small portion of this icy world’s surface, and are found around the rim of Sputnik Planitia. (NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI)