Images Dated 14th March 1996

Hubble Space Telescope images of Pluto

Pluto. Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images showing two hemispheres of Pluto, the smallest and outermost planet in the solar system. The two main images have been processed by computer to bring out the brightness differences on the surface. The original raw images are at the top left of each panel. Twelve bright regions have been identified, including a large north polar cap. It is thought that the surface of Pluto is largely nitrogen ice, with methane and carbon monoxide ices as impurities. In size and surface composition, Pluto is similar to Triton, a moon of Neptune. No spacecraft has yet visited Pluto

© NASA/ESA/STSCI/A.STERN,SWRI/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY