Although Pluto is no longer considered as a  full-sized planet within our planetary system  

it still holds a special place in the solar system  the ninth farthest planet from the sun was demoted  

and reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006 but  that did not in any way diminish the fascination  

astronomers and scientists have had for the  planet for years the plethora of stunning images  

and discoveries from the new horizons mission  have brought us closer to the former planet than  

we've ever been before welcome to Factnomenal  and in today's video we will be taking you on  

a journey to see some of the most breathtaking  images ever captured of the icy dwarf planet  

exploring Pluto and beyond the new horizons  mission is the first of nasa's new frontiers  

mission probes all of which are designed to  explore a wide range of destinations within  

the solar system what was initially a project  meant to be funded way back in 2001 kept getting  

pushed forward and owing to nasa's tight budget  it didn't quite make the cut it wasn't until  

after the planetary science decadal survey that  it was placed on top priority and the mission was  

finally reinstated on January 19th 2006 after  a few delayed launch attempts the new horizon  

spacecraft was launched on an atlas rocket from  Cape Canaveral air force station in Florida after  

doing its flyby of its first target Jupiter the  spacecraft was even made to go into hibernation  

mode to conserve energy to lessen the chance  of breakages and just doing occasional checks  

it was in the year 2015 that the spacecraft  finally reached Pluto and its moon charon  

and also visited other worlds within the Kuiper  belt the data and images obtained from the new  

horizons spacecraft finally gave scientists  the much needed insight about the dwarf planet  

portrait of a planet nasa's new horizon spacecraft  captured one of the most breathtaking images of  

the planet it is by far the most accurate natural  color image of the planet as a result of the  

refined calibration of data and images combining  blue red and infrared images taken by the new  

horizons multi-spectral visible imaging camera  Pluto surface showcases a remarkable variety  

of colors as the new horizon spacecraft zipped  towards Pluto and its moons it captured images  

with all of pluto's unique features on display  from pale blue yellow orange and deep red hues  

you can see the different landforms each with  their distinct colors you can even see the bright  

expense of Pluto's icy nitrogen and methane-rich  area known as Sputnik Planitia or sputnik plenum  

the white-colored basin that forms half of the  Tombaugh Regio is a smooth plane of nitrogen  

ice without any impact craters on its surface  which means it is a relatively new and young  

feature with astronomers and scientists saying  it was formed as a result of an object perhaps  

a giant meteorite slamming into the dwarf planet  studies are now suggesting that this could be a  

clue to whether Pluto's heart is secretly hiding  a subsurface ocean the dynamic duo with five moons  

in its system it's a whole little world of its  own Charon, Styx, Nyx, Kerberos and Hydra are all  

Pluto satellites and out of them all Charon is the  largest being nearly half the size of the planet  

interestingly enough it was named after Charon  from Greek mythology who would ferry the souls  

to the underworld it was only fitting as Pluto  had been named after the god of the underworld  

Pluto and Charon are a pair unlike any other  being so similar in size they are a bit of  

point in space that lies in between them much  like the orbits of a binary system the same  

surfaces of Pluto and charon are always facing  each other a rare phenomenon called mutual title  

locking because of this both Pluto and its moon  Charon are referred to as double dwarf planet  

or double planet in the color enhanced image  captured by the new horizon spacecraft you can  

however see the striking differences between the  two worlds where you can see Charon's polar red  

terrain you can also see Pluto's equatorial red  terrain the image is taken by the multi-spectral  

visual imaging camera or mvic in infrared  show the brilliant duo as never seen before  

pitted patterns this image taken by the telescopic  camera on the spacecraft shows the true intricate  

pattern of what appears to be pits all across  Pluto and its heart-shaped region Tombaugh Regio  

there has been a lot of debate and speculation  over how these cavitations were caused with  

some scientists suggesting that they could be a  combination of ice fracturing and then evaporating  

because there are little to no impact craters  in the area they are also led to believe that  

the pits couldn't have formed too long ago the  alignment and pattern gives us a clue about true  

ice flow and exchange of nitrogen and other  more volatile materials between the surface  

and its atmosphere the stunning high resolution  image was taken when the spacecraft passed within  

5934 miles of the planet's surface in the  southeast corner you can even spot the giant  

ice sheet verizon sputnik planet on the upper  left quadrant of the image you can see the  

distinct border between the smooth sputnik plenum  region and the pitted area with a series of hills  

from Pluto with love although we no longer  count Pluto as a planet in our solar system  

it doesn't look like Pluto has too many hard  feelings and seems to only have love to give  

the most intriguing thing on Pluto is the  heart-shaped region discovered when the  

new horizons mission took close-up images of  the planet and revealed that the planet isn't  

quite the barren land we once thought it was  dubbed as Tombaugh Regio after Clyde Tombaugh  

who first discovered the planet Pluto's little  heart region is in fact covered with nitrogen ice  

new research has now shown that the heart actually  rules the entire atmospheric circulation much  

like a human heart rules the circulation in our  bodies so how exactly does it do that according  

to new research during the daytime a layer of  the nitrogen ice which covers the region warms  

up and quickly turns into vapor at night time this  very vapor then condenses and forms into ice each  

sequence is almost like a heartbeat pumping cold  icy winds around the planet this entire process  

sets off winds in the westerly direction which is  the opposite of the dwarf planet's eastward spin  

thereby making the entire atmosphere spin  backwards now that's totally epic bladed terrains  

pluto's bladed mountain terrains are unlike  anything that has ever been seen on other  

planets in the solar system the image shows  just how strikingly beautiful they really are  

it seems like something straight out of a sci-fi  movie new horizons telescope camera was able to  

capture just how rugged Pluto's surface is as  well as the dozens upon dozens of atmospheric  

layers that it has even stretching into orbital  altitudes the wide-angled image captured at 11 000  

miles from Pluto shows the numerous deep layers of  the cold coward planet's atmosphere meanwhile the  

jagged landforms of the surface of the planet  are made up almost entirely of methane ice the  

bladed terrain consists of tall deposits of this  methane ice and due to the climate variations of  

the planet this ice tends to evaporate through a  process of sublimation completely skipping out on  

becoming a liquid that's why you see tall deposits  of the methane as opposed to just blobs of ice on  

the ground Pluto has a complex topography and was  quite misunderstood for a long time although much  

of it still remains a mystery data from the  mission has helped bridge many of those gaps  

volcanoes on Pluto another startling  revelation that came from the data  

collected by the new horizons mission was the  existence of cryo volcanoes on the dwarf planet  

which had scientists immediately buzzing the  camera aboard the spacecraft was able to capture  

the highest resolution color view of two potential  cryo volcanoes two towering mountains have been  

observed by nasa right mons standing at thirteen  thousand feet and picardmonds which is the same  

size as Popocatopetal just outside Mexico city  at nearly 18 000 feet both the peaks have large  

holes in their summits which were likely formed  when material erupted from underneath the surface  

what really has everyone so interested  is that if it is in fact a volcano  

it would be the largest feature of its kind  ever discovered in the outer solar system  

there is only sparse distribution of red material  which raises eyebrows as to why it isn't more  

widespread along with the fact that there is  only one identified impact crater on right mods  

which could hinder the fact that  the surface could be relatively new  

as opposed to volcanoes on earth that expel molten  rock Pluto's cryovolcanoes would more than likely  

be expelling large amounts of water ice frozen  nitrogen methane and ammonia no wonder they call  

Pluto earth's cold little brother new horizons  did not capture any eruptions from either of  

the two so for now it remains just a very likely  hypothesis with Mons data pointing in its favor  

feeling blue taken from when the new horizon  spacecraft was about 120,000 miles from Pluto  

this image is the highest resolution color  shot of the dwarf planet's receding crescent  

it highlights the otherworldly beauty of  the planet against the dark expense of space  

the atmospheric layers of blue haze which seem  to dominate the image is what scientists believe  

to be a photochemical smog which may form  when sunlight interacts with methane and  

other molecules together producing a mixture  of hydrocarbons just like it would happen on  

earth the hydrocarbons accumulate into small haze  particles a fraction of a micrometer in size which  

then scatter blue light giving it that blue haze  the picture is also extremely special as it was  

captured just as the new horizon spacecraft  was bidding farewell to the little planet  

the perfect goodbye marking the accomplishment  of a goal which should have been impossible  

and was nearly 26 years in the making as of now  the new horizon spacecraft is still exploring  

our solar system and on April 17th 2021 it reached  a distance of 50 astronomical units from the sun  

the images and discoveries from the  mission have only just proved more strongly  

that planets in our solar system are far too  complex and compelling to not study further  

when it comes to the icy dwarf planet we have  barely only begun to scratch the surface and we  

cannot wait to learn more about what Pluto has to  offer so what do you think what is your favorite  

thing about Pluto tell us in the comments don't  forget to smash the like button and subscribe to  

Factnomenal for more space videos like this  thanks for watching we'll see you next time