Pluto was once thought to be a barren, boring lump of rock at the edge of the Solar System. However, a recent mission has shed new light on this mysterious world. It is filled with ice mountains and volcanoes, and it has particles in its atmosphere that scatter sunlight, giving it a blue sky just like on Earth.
Strange surface
In 2015, photos revealed Pluto’s surface for the first time. NASA scientists spotted smooth plains riddled with craters and mountains of ice.
Dwarf planets
In 2006, it was decided Pluto wasn’t a planet, but a dwarf planet. Dwarf planets are similar to planets in many ways, but share their orbits around the Sun with other objects, such as asteroids and comets. There are currently five recognized dwarf planets in the Solar System, but it thought there are many more.
New Horizons
In 2015 the New Horizons probe made a close flyby of Pluto. It was the first time the dwarf planet had been seen in such clear detail, revealing a world far more active than was previously thought.
Charon
When it wasn’t busy snapping shots of Pluto, New Horizons had the chance to photograph Pluto’s biggest moon, Charon.
The Kuiper Belt
The Kuiper Belt is made up of millions of icy and rocky objects that orbit the Sun at the edge of the Solar System. It is also home to dwarf planets. New Horizons will do its first flyby of a Kuiper Belt object in 2019.
Picture Credit : Google