Now in colour: Close-up pics of Pluto sent by New Horizons spacecraft

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has released sharpest images ever of cratered, mountainous and glacial terrains on Pluto, now in colour.

Previously, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft had returned close-up images of Pluto to the Earth which were taken when the probe whizzed past Pluto on July 14, 2015, coming within 7,800 miles of the icy planet's surface.

Also read: New Horizons returns Pluto's sharpest images ever

According to NASA, the pictures are part of a sequence taken near New Horizons’ closest approach to Pluto, with resolutions of about 250-280 feet (77-85 meters) per pixel – revealing features smaller than half a city block on Pluto’s surface. Lower resolution color data (at about 2,066 feet, or 630 meters, per pixel) were added to create this new image.

Here is a look at the incredible image:

 

Pluto was ready for its close-up during the July flyby & now we have those pics in color! https://t.co/fU7IguMrBx pic.twitter.com/rSF6F2RVW8 — NASA (@NASA) December 10, 2015

The New Horizons spacecraft is now more than 3 billion miles (about 5 billion kilometers) from Earth, and more than 43 million miles (69 million kilometers) beyond Pluto. NASA says the spacecraft is healthy and all systems are operating normally.

Also read: Picture: New Pluto images from New Horizons show mysterious complexity

New Horizons spacecraft became the first-ever space mission to explore the icy planet.