--- 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=985&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 985 og:image:height: 554 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=985&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Pluto Silhouette Reveals Surprising Atmospheric Haze > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=8cfe86f5-14b8-470a-ac4f-1aff22e8c18a&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## 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. ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ] [00:09] It [00:18] is [00:27] a long [00:34] road and it is very hard. I've seen him behind the [00:37] scenes. I've seen the hard work he's put in, and here [00:40] we are, and this is the moment. And so, [00:44] it can't not Lot pull you in and a joke or two here and [00:48] there. [ MUSIC ] I [00:54] do sometimes dream of being in space. Sometimes I'll [00:57] wake up and I'll tell Miko, I had this dream I was [01:00] launching a space shuttle or a space station or [01:02] sometimes there are people with me. Like she's been [01:04] with me in my dreams, my kids have. But in reality, [01:08] while I'm up there most of humanity is 250 miles below [01:12] you. If anything goes wrong on earth. You're [01:16] not coming home [ MUSIC ] [01:19] [ INAUDIBLE ] [01:21] How's [01:23] it [01:26] going [01:28] for [01:30] you [01:33] now? It's [01:37] actually [01:42] going [01:46] pretty [01:50] good. [01:55] [ MUSIC ] [01:59] In [02:04] float [02:08] suit [02:12] Let [02:17] me [02:21] know [02:26] if you're good to stay in for another hour. Got my [02:27] [ UNKNOWN ] [02:35] [ MUSIC ] For [02:51] decades human beings as a whole and Americans in [02:55] particular have been talking about going to Mars. [02:57] Mars. As long ago as 1969, [03:01] after the Apollo 11 moon landing, people were [03:04] predicting Americans would be on Mars by 1975. It [03:09] has been a dream deferred. For half a century. [03:12] [ MUSIC ] [03:23] Getting to Mars requires multiple systems in Nasa [03:27] to be working at once. The system [03:31] that's the most fragile and destructible of all, however, [03:34] is the human body. It's the one we [03:38] didn't invent. It's the one we're stuck with. [ MUSIC ] [03:43] If [03:45] we plan to get to Mars, we have to figure out how to [03:48] make that biological machine survive in a place [03:52] it was not built to survive. [ MUSIC ] [04:04] Scott Kelly. Has been working toward this mission his [04:07] entire career. He's been working toward this mission [04:09] his entire life in some respects. [ MUSIC ] He [04:19] knows what it's like to have a football field [04:23] size piece of $ 100 billion infrastructure. In [04:28] his control and now he is going back for one year to [04:32] run one of the most important bio- medical studies [04:35] NASA has ever run [ MUSIC ] [04:42] Yeah, [04:48] the [04:54] way he misses the people, and then the weather. [05:00] It's kinda like. Well, it's going outside. There's [05:04] no sun on your face. You never feel this on my feet, [05:08] this fire. You never feel this cold breeze. It's always [05:13] exactly the same. So [05:17] I had this Texans hat. And it was completely faded and [05:21] stained and it was the best hat ever and [05:26] then I lost them. So, I went [05:30] and I bought two of the exact same hat. This one's [05:34] gonna go to Cuz I stand with me. But [05:38] then I took the other one, and I strewed him to the [05:40] fence over there. And he's going to be exposed to the [05:43] Houston weather for a year. And he's going to turn [05:47] back into old smokey for me when I get home. You're [05:49] gonna come home, and a year later, you're gonna see [05:51] earth changed something too. I hope not too much. [05:54] [ LAUGH ] We'll figure it out. When [06:00] the first time like I actually had an interaction with you [06:02] at work you came in. And I thought. It was so [06:07] weird to me now to think of. You thought it was my [06:09] brother? I couldn't tell the difference between the two [06:12] of you which is weird to me now. Because I'm like I can [06:15] tell When you; re walking away I know exactly who's [06:17] who. [ MUSIC ] Yeah, [06:22] we used to look, I guess, very much alike. To [06:26] some extent still, for people who don't know us. And [06:30] my mother used to dress us the same. Now [06:35] look at these old pictures with Orange shorts, and a [06:37] striped orange shirt, and a bow tie. [ MUSIC ] When we [06:42] were little we had our own secret language. We [06:47] did almost everything together, and I remember laying [06:50] in bed one time in the morning, and talking [06:54] to my brother about how we were gonna build an [06:55] airplane in the back yard. We just said at five or six [06:59] years old we figured we could do that. Like we had the [07:01] skill to do this. Obviously, we didn't. We didn't get very [07:05] far with the airplane or later with the spaceship. [07:11] [ MUSIC ] I think twins tend to be a little bit different. I [07:15] think their relationship is different than just siblings. [07:18] [ MUSIC ] You okay? Yep. [ MUSIC ] [07:22] So, this thing is not [07:27] meant to walk around in. [ LAUGH ] No. NASA's [07:35] doing kind of a comparative study between my brother [07:38] Mark and I, since we're identical twins. I [07:43] call him much more when I'm in space than I do on [07:46] earth. And it's because you [07:50] just feel like you're so far away, you need to try to [07:54] maintain some kind of connection. I'll [07:59] be probably more excited for him than anybody else. [08:02] I've flown four flights. This'll be his fourth flight. [08:09] For my mom's passed away, but for my dad to have [08:14] gone through this whole experience eight times now, [08:17] that's a lot. [ MUSIC ] [08:24] Throughout history people have done things that are [08:28] risky. So even though it is a risky thing to be doing, [08:32] and I think it's a lot more risky than some people might [08:34] think, it, in my mind, is worth it even [08:39] if the unfortunate And tragic [08:43] thing was to happen to myself and my crew mates, I [08:48] still think it's worth it. Being part of something that you [08:51] feel is larger than yourself [ MUSIC ] [09:05] [ INAUDIBLE ] it's going to be a long year for I'll tell you [09:08] that. Dad, I can call you from space and [09:12] harass you, just as much as I can harass you over the [09:15] phone here. You don't have to worry. Okay. Thank you. [09:20] [ LAUGH ] Got your [09:25] tunes, your headphones. [09:30] Uh- huh. [ MUSIC ] [ LAUGH ] [09:35] That was funny. [09:40] Oh. Yep. What [09:45] did you say this morning that was funny? And I told you [09:49] don't say that, yay. God. It would. What was I talking [09:55] about. Oh, when you said goodbye, dad. Goodbye, [10:00] dad. I'm going to miss your silky smoothness. Should I [10:01] show you how the remote works? I think I got it now, I [10:03] think I got it. We're on our own. I'm [10:10] going to jump in the shower. Real quick. Okay. [10:11] [ MUSIC ] [ NOISE ] Excuse me everybody! Can we be [10:11] really quiet for a sound test real quick? Sound [10:42] check. [ MUSIC ] Hello [10:58] Scott And Gabby and I just wanted to say Bon Voyage. [11:00] How do you say that? Bon Voyage. [11:05] And you know we know you only have a couple of days [11:08] in the US and then you are gone for I don't know like [11:10] five years or something. Do you know what it is? How [11:13] long? One year in space. Hey dad. I just [11:17] want you to know that I'm really gonna miss you. You [11:20] made so many sacrifices over the years for Charlotte [11:22] and I. You helped me become the person I am today. [11:26] Hi Dad, I'd like to wish you good luck [11:30] on your trip. It's exciting and you're going to be [11:34] working, but remember to take in the view. I love [11:41] you, Daddy. [ INAUDIBLE ] People ask me what am I [11:43] going to do, and I always just say, you know, I'm going [11:47] to just see how far love travels. You want [11:51] to know how long a year is. It's 31. Six [11:56] million seconds. It will be 31. 6 million times [12:00] you're on my mind. I [12:05] said to my brother I'll be in space and flying all the way [12:08] around the sun one lap at a year. And he's like so will [12:13] I. The rest of us will be doing the same thing. On [12:16] spaceship Earth. I get the question, [12:20] how does it feel to be the daughter of an astronaut. [12:22] You know he's been an astronaut since I was one [12:24] year's old, I wouldn't know anything else. I can't [12:27] compare it to anything else, so everybody's like yeah [12:30] it's so cool, your dad's an astronaut he's going to [12:33] space for a year. And for me, I'm like, yeah. He's my [12:36] dad. [ LAUGH ] You know? He's my dorky dad. The [12:39] one who gets mad at me if I don't do my home work, [12:41] or if I don't come home on time. [ LAUGH ] [12:46] He's still my dad, no matter what his job is. And And [12:50] he's a great one at that. 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