NASA released the first very high resolution photographs showing close-ups of ​​the dwarf planet Pluto’s surface. These are images captured by the New Horizons space probe during its extraordinary July 14, 2015 flyby. In recent months, NASA already received high-resolution photographs but these ones are part of a series of shots that was intended to capture the details of Pluto’s surface, in this case the area called Sputnik Planum.

Typically, the New Horizons space probe used the “point and shoot” method to take pictures of Pluto and its moons but not in this case. About 15 minutes before reaching the point of closest approach to the dwarf planet, the LORRI (Long Range Reconnaissance Imager) instrument was used to take a picture every three seconds while the Ralph/Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera was scanning the surface.

The result is a series of images with a resolution six times higher than those transmitted earlier by the New Horizons space probe, to be precise of 77-85 meters (250-280 feet) per pixel. Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), the mission’s principal investigator, reminded us that it took decades to get such detailed images of Venus and Mars after the first flybys of a space probe.

This extraordinary result was obviously achieved thanks to the huge advances in technology, which allowed to build a spacecraft with much better instruments. However, we have also to credit a perfect planning for the New Horizons flyby as it was traveling at very high speed. As a result, it had to focus its instruments with remarkable precision to capture the images of Pluto and its moons.

If the case of those close-ups, the problem was even greater because New Horizons passed very close to Pluto at very high speed. Consequently, it was necessary to use an exposure time shorter than usual to prevent the photographs from turning up blurry.

These photographs show excellent details of Pluto’s craters, mountains and other geological features. These details will help scientists better to understand the geological history of this dwarf planet. These days, the New Horizons space probe has been sending many more pictures of this type. Their study will also help to understand if a surprising celestial body such as Pluto may actually be common in the solar systems’ outer areas.

This NASA video shows a composition of the first very high resolution pictures processed.