Stunning high-res images of Pluto’s surface show “youthful terrain”

On Tuesday, New Horizons phoned home to inform NASA that it successfully executed its flyby of Pluto, coming within 12,500km (7,767mi) of the dwarf planet's surface. Having collected a ton of data, the spacecraft has begun the long process of transmitting it all back to Earth.

Among the first images transmitted back to NASA was a stunning, high-resolution image of Pluto's surface. Pictured above, the image covers an area near Pluto's equator and shows a mountain range with peaks as high as 3,350m (11,000 feet). There's also a noticeable lack of impact craters, which indicates that the surface of Pluto is relatively young. "This is one of the youngest surfaces we’ve ever seen in the solar system," said Jeff Moore of New Horizons’ Geology, Geophysics and Imaging Team.

The New Horizons team estimated the age of the mountains at 100 million years old, and it's thought that the area shown above, which covers less than one percent of Pluto's surface, depicts a geologically active area.