NASA has released the latest batch of images of Pluto and its complex system of moons, revealing the dwarf planet’s heart in stunning detail. The “heart,” estimated to be 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) across at its widest point rests just above the equator. (The angle of view displays mostly the northern hemisphere. The heart’s diameter is about the same distance as from Denver to Chicago, in America’s heartland. stronomers expect these mountains are as much as 11,000 feet (3,300 meters) high. And those towering features are very likely made of water ice — a substance known to occupy Pluto’s interior but yet to be conclusively detected on the surface. And yet water is the only way to get these mountains, the team thinks.
(Images reveal ice mountains on Pluto Credit: NASA)
A new picture of Pluto's surface shows evidence of active geology and mountains comparable to the Rockies.
Pluto has mountains made of ice that are as high as those in the Rockies, images from the New Horizons probe reveal.
They also show signs of geological activity on Pluto and its moon Charon.
On 15 July 2015, scientists presented the first pictures acquired by the New Horizons probe during its historic flyby of the dwarf planet.