NASA released a new photo on Thursday (March 3) showing a chain of snow-capped mountains stretching across the dark section on Pluto known as Cthulhu Regio.
Scientists believe the bright material highlighted on the image may be primarily methane, which has condensed as ice onto the peaks from Pluto’s atmosphere, NASA’s website said.
The compositional data was obtained using the Ralph/Multispectal Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC) on NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft on July 14, 2015.
The image measures approximately 280 miles (450 kilometers) long by 140 miles (225 kilometers) wide, according to NASA’s website. The photo was taken at a range of approximately 21, 100 miles (33,900 kilometers) from Pluto. (Reuters)
