--- title: Pluto Atmospheric Haze Visible in New Image description: NASA’s nightside image of the dwarf planet shows sunlight streaming through the hydrocarbon haze. canonical: https://time.com/3971673/pluto-silhouette-atmospheric-haze/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-24T19:29:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:58:25.537Z article:section: Science og:title: Backlit Pluto Image Reveals New Info About Its Haze og:description: NASA released stunning images on Friday of the dwarf planet's silhouette og:url: https://time.com/3971673/pluto-silhouette-atmospheric-haze/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf4b577781b317ca6/69885c62196cf4363a037406/pluto-haze-eclipse-new-horizons.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Pluto Haze Eclipse New Horizons og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Backlit Pluto Image Reveals New Info About Its Haze twitter:description: NASA released stunning images on Friday of the dwarf planet's silhouette twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf4b577781b317ca6/69885c62196cf4363a037406/pluto-haze-eclipse-new-horizons.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Pluto Silhouette Reveals Surprising Atmospheric Haze ## Video: A Year in Space - Ep.1: Leaving Home [Watch (HLS stream): A Year in Space - Ep.1: Leaving Home](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/6ookw4W2.m3u8) (13:31)  _Published 2021-03-11. A Year in Space - Ep.1: Leaving Home_  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Jul 24, 2015 7:29 PM UTC  Pluto sends a breathtaking farewell to New Horizons. Backlit by the sun, Pluto’s atmosphere rings its silhouette like a luminous halo in this image taken by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft around midnight EDT on July 15, 2015. Pluto sends a breathtaking farewell to New Horizons. Backlit by the sun, Pluto’s atmosphere rings its silhouette like a luminous halo in this image taken by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft around midnight EDT on July 15, 2015.NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Jul 24, 2015 7:29 PM UTC In this parting image, the New Horizons spacecraft [captured a darkened Pluto](http://www.nasa.gov/feature/stunning-nightside-image-reveals-pluto-s-hazy-skies) backlit by the sun—illuminating the hydrocarbon haze circling the dwarf planet for the first time. In addition to showing an elegantly beautiful silhouette, the NASA image indicates that haze layers extend for up to 80 miles above Pluto’s surface. Scientists had predicted much less atmospheric haze, and were surprised by how much the sunlight revealed, NASA said in a press release. “My jaw was on the ground when I saw this first image of an alien atmosphere in the Kuiper Belt,” said New Horizons Principal Investigator Alan Stern in the press release. “It reminds us that exploration brings us more than just incredible discoveries—it brings incredible beauty.” The New Horizons probe took the photo with its Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI), responsible for the historic photos of the dwarf planet. NASA released this image just hours after revealing [a false color view](https://slack-redir.net/link?url=http%3A%2F%2Ftime.com%2F3971583%2Fnasa-pluto-image%2F) of Pluto from New Horizons. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3971673/pluto-silhouette-atmospheric-haze/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3971673/pluto-silhouette-atmospheric-haze/"},"headline":"Pluto Silhouette Reveals Surprising Atmospheric Haze","datePublished":"2015-07-24T19:29:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:58:25.537Z","description":"NASA released stunning images on Friday of the dwarf planet's silhouette","url":"https://time.com/3971673/pluto-silhouette-atmospheric-haze/","keywords":["Space","Pluto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf4b577781b317ca6/69885c62196cf4363a037406/pluto-haze-eclipse-new-horizons.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf4b577781b317ca6/69885c62196cf4363a037406/pluto-haze-eclipse-new-horizons.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Pluto Haze Eclipse New Horizons","caption":"Pluto Haze Eclipse New Horizons","creditText":"NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3971673/pluto-silhouette-atmospheric-haze/","name":"Pluto Silhouette Reveals Surprising Atmospheric Haze"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"A Year in Space - Ep.1: Leaving Home","description":"A Year in Space - Ep.1: Leaving Home","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/6ookw4W2/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2021-03-11T18:13:57.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/6ookw4W2.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3971673/pluto-silhouette-atmospheric-haze/","duration":"PT13M31S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3971673/pluto-silhouette-atmospheric-haze/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```