--- title: Pluto's Moon Charon Seen in Beautiful New Images description: A series of canyons near its equator is four times the length of the Grand Canyon canonical: https://time.com/4058675/nasa-pluto-charon/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-01T21:47:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T11:27:51.249Z article:section: Science og:title: NASA Reveals Beautiful New Images of Pluto's Moon og:description: A series of canyons near its equator is 4 times the length of the Grand Canyon og:url: https://time.com/4058675/nasa-pluto-charon/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea0d8b6a0263f734/6988668fcd1bba1a146fd780/pluto-moon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: Pluto Moon og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: NASA Reveals Beautiful New Images of Pluto's Moon twitter:description: A series of canyons near its equator is 4 times the length of the Grand Canyon twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea0d8b6a0263f734/6988668fcd1bba1a146fd780/pluto-moon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # NASA Reveals Beautiful New Images of Pluto's Moon by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Oct 1, 2015 9:47 PM UTC  This image released by NASA on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2015, shows Charon, in enhanced color by captured by NASA's New Horizons captured just before closest approach on July 14, 2015. This image released by NASA on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2015, shows Charon, in enhanced color by captured by NASA's New Horizons captured just before closest approach on July 14, 2015.NASA/AP by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Oct 1, 2015 9:47 PM UTC New images of Pluto’s largest moon, Charon, reveal details of markedly violent past. [NASA](http://www.nasa.gov/feature/pluto-s-big-moon-charon-reveals-a-colorful-and-violent-history) published striking photos taken by the New Horizons spacecraft at the culmination of its 9-year mission to Pluto, which show an array of mountains, valleys, and canyons on the dwarf planet’s moon. According to [NASA](http://www.nasa.gov/feature/pluto-s-big-moon-charon-reveals-a-colorful-and-violent-history), a system of canyons located just north of the moon’s equator is quadruple the length of the the Grand Canyon, and twice as deep in some areas indicating a “titanic geological upheaval in Charon’s past.” The images were captured by New Horizons when the spacecraft traveled past the dwarf planet and its moon on July 14 and they were transmitted to Earth on Sept. 21. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4058675/nasa-pluto-charon/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4058675/nasa-pluto-charon/"},"headline":"NASA Reveals Beautiful New Images of Pluto's Moon","datePublished":"2015-10-01T21:47:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T11:27:51.249Z","description":"A series of canyons near its equator is four times the length of the Grand Canyon","url":"https://time.com/4058675/nasa-pluto-charon/","keywords":["Space","NASA","Pluto","New Horizons"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea0d8b6a0263f734/6988668fcd1bba1a146fd780/pluto-moon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea0d8b6a0263f734/6988668fcd1bba1a146fd780/pluto-moon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Pluto Moon","caption":"Pluto Moon","creditText":"NASA/AP","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/4058675/nasa-pluto-charon/","name":"NASA Reveals Beautiful New Images of Pluto's Moon"}}]}] ```