--- ---  # See the Frozen Canyons of Pluto’s North Pole  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Feb 26, 2016 12:10 AM UTC  NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Feb 26, 2016 12:10 AM UTC An [image of Pluto released by NASA](http://www.nasa.gov/feature/the-frozen-canyons-of-pluto-s-north-pole) on Thursday reveals long frozen canyons with winding valleys close to the dwarf planet’s north pole. The widest canyon pictured is 45 miles wide, while others are about 6 miles wide. The image reveals terrain with deep scarring and irregular pits that might be indicative of ground collapse caused by melting ice. The terrain appears yellow in some places at higher elevations and bluish gray in places at lower elevations. The image was captured by [NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft](http://time.com/4018747/new-horizons-flyby/) on July 14, 2015 approximately 21,100 miles away from Pluto. **Read more:** [Photographing Pluto: This Is How _New Horizons_ Works](http://time.com/3944157/new-horizons-pluto/) Pluto's Frozen Canyons Surround the North Pole ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4238208/frozen-canyons-pluto-north-pole/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4238208/frozen-canyons-pluto-north-pole/"},"headline":"See the Frozen Canyons of Pluto’s North Pole","datePublished":"2016-02-26T00:10:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:24:01.303Z","description":"The largest canyon is 45 miles wide","url":"https://time.com/4238208/frozen-canyons-pluto-north-pole/","keywords":["Space"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf04be0c493afd82e/69887f338e06012cab464c7a/nh-northpolerotatedcontrast.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf04be0c493afd82e/69887f338e06012cab464c7a/nh-northpolerotatedcontrast.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"nh-northpolerotatedcontrast","caption":"","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/4238208/frozen-canyons-pluto-north-pole/","name":"See the Frozen Canyons of Pluto’s North Pole"}}]}] ```