Now in colour: Close-up pics of Pluto sent by New Horizons spacecraft

Pic Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has released sharpest images ever of cratered, mountainous and glacial terrains on Pluto, now in colour.

Previously, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft had returned close-up images of Pluto to the Earth which were taken when the probe whizzed past Pluto on July 14, 2015, coming within 7,800 miles of the icy planet's surface.

According to NASA, the pictures are part of a sequence taken near New Horizons’ closest approach to Pluto, with resolutions of about 250-280 feet (77-85 meters) per pixel – revealing features smaller than half a city block on Pluto’s surface. Lower resolution color data (at about 2,066 feet, or 630 meters, per pixel) were added to create this new image.

Here is a look at the incredible image:

Pluto was ready for its close-up during the July flyby & now we have those pics in color! https://t.co/fU7IguMrBx pic.twitter.com/rSF6F2RVW8

— NASA (@NASA) December 10, 2015

The New Horizons spacecraft is now more than 3 billion miles (about 5 billion kilometers) from Earth, and more than 43 million miles (69 million kilometers) beyond Pluto. NASA says the spacecraft is healthy and all systems are operating normally.

New Horizons spacecraft became the first-ever space mission to explore the icy planet.