--- title: See Pluto's Topography in Stunnings Colors description: The planet's distinct regions are visible in this false color image captured at a range of 22,000 miles by the New Horizons spacecraft using a special technique that highlights the different regions of the planet canonical: https://time.com/4110863/see-plutos-topography-in-stunnings-colors/ author: TIME Photo article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-12T22:32:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:00:58.245Z article:section: Science og:title: See Pluto's Topography in Stunnings Colors og:description: The photos were captured using a special technique og:url: https://time.com/4110863/see-plutos-topography-in-stunnings-colors/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf174a575f26f7653/698870d6a988ca42666b545c/nh-psychedelic-pluto_pca.png?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: nh-psychedelic-pluto_pca og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: See Pluto's Topography in Stunnings Colors twitter:description: The photos were captured using a special technique twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf174a575f26f7653/698870d6a988ca42666b545c/nh-psychedelic-pluto_pca.png?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # See Pluto's Topography in Stunnings Colors by [TIME Photo](/author/time-photo/) ## TIME Photo Nov 12, 2015 10:32 PM CUT  NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI by [TIME Photo](/author/time-photo/) ## TIME Photo Nov 12, 2015 10:32 PM CUT ### See New Horizons' Best Images of Pluto  An enhanced color global view of pluto released on July 24, 2015. NASA/Reuters  In the center left of Pluto’s vast heart-shaped feature – informally named “Tombaugh Regio” - lies a vast, craterless plain that appears to be no more than 100 million years old, and is possibly still being shaped by geologic processes. This frozen region is north of Pluto’s icy mountains and has been informally named Sputnik Planum (Sputnik Plain), after Earth’s first artificial satellite. The image was acquired on July 14 from a distance of 48,000 miles (77,000 kilometers). NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute  A close-up image of a region near Pluto's equator shows a range of mountains rising as high as 11,000 feet (3,500 meters) taken by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft as it passed within 7,800 feet of the dwarf planet on July 14, 2015. NASA/Getty Images  A newly discovered mountain range lies near the southwestern margin of Pluto’s heart-shaped Tombaugh Regio (Tombaugh Region), situated between bright, icy plains and dark, heavily-cratered terrain. NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute  A composite image of Pluto and its largest moon Charon collected separately by New Horizons during approach on July 13 and July 14, 2015\. The relative reflectivity, size, separation, and orientations of Pluto and Charon are approximated in this composite image, and they are shown in approximate true color. NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI  Pluto, seen from the New Horizons spacecraft on July 13, 2015 just before the space craft's historic fly-by. NASA/AP  NASA's New Horizons captured this high-resolution enhanced color view of Charon just before closest approach on July 14, 2015. NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute  A close up view of Pluto's largest moon, Charon. NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI  Pluto on July 14, 2015, as seen by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft while it looked back toward the sun. 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