The Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on board the New Horizons probe has sent mission scientists its clearest image of the planet to date, showing a heart-shaped feature on the dwarf planet's surface, just days away from its closest encounter.
The image was taken less than five million miles from the planet. The heart-shape is measured to be about 1,200 miles wide.
To the left side of the heart lies an 1,860-mile-long (3,000-kilometre-long) dark patch along Pluto's equator that mission scientists are calling the "whale". Above those features is a polar region that is intermediate in brightness, NDTV reports.
This view is roughly centered on the area that will be seen up close on July 14, the target date for the closest approach on the planet.
"The next time we see this part of Pluto at closest approach, a portion of this region will be imaged at about 500 times better resolution than we see today ... It will be incredible!" said Jeff Moore, Geology, Geophysics and Imaging Team Leader of NASA's Ames Research Center, in a statement on NASA's page.
For more news on New Horizons' journey to Pluto, check out HNGN's constant updates on the Pluto flyby below.
