NASA released new images of Pluto's northernmost region. The images revealed Pluto's amazing, yellow-hued frozen canyons.
The widest canyon (highlighted in yellow) is up to 45 miles wide. It lies between two approximately parallel canyons (in green) that are about 6 miles wide each. A winding valley (in blue) seems to snake across the length of the widest canyon's floor.
Pluto's frozen north pole also has giant pits (in red) that are about 45 miles across and about 2.5 miles deep. The northernmost region was named Lowell Regio, albeit casually, in honor of the Lowell Observatory founder Percival Lowell who contributed to the planet's discovery.
The region's composition and yellow hue are rare. Its highest elevations are distinctively yellow, which are not evident in other parts of the planet. The lower elevations are bluish gray.
Infrared measurements indicated the abundance of methane ice across the region. Findings also showed the presence of little nitrogen ice.
New Horizons' composition team leader Will Grundy said the yellow-hued terrains could possibly relate to old methane deposits. Solar radiation caused the methane deposits to become more processed compared to the ones in the bluish gray terrain.
The canyons suggested that Pluto underwent a phase of tectonic activities in the past. New findings could help scientists understand how the dwarf planet became what it is today.
The Ralph/Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera took the images at roughly 21,100 miles from Pluto, nearly 45 minutes before the New Horizons spacecraft's closest flyby on July 14, 2015.
Also in July, Pluto's biggest moon, Charon, revealed its dark side to New Horizons. On July 17, 2015, three days after its closest flyby, the spacecraft was able to snap a dramatic photo of Charon as just a sliver of light.
The spacecraft is still in the process of transmitting all of its collected flyby data back to Earth. It would take roughly a year to beam all the data from its mission.
In mid-January, the New Horizons spacecraft celebrated its 10th year anniversary. On Jan. 19, 2006, the almost 1,000-pound spacecraft was launched from the Florida coastline at over 36,000 miles per hour.
Here is an image of the stunning yellow-colored North Pole of Pluto without the highlights.
