Photograph from NASA probe shows new details of Pluto surface

WASHINGTON, July 11 (UPI) -- Scientists are getting a better look at the surface of Pluto, thanks to some new imagery from NASA's New Horizon space probe, officials said.

The latest photograph, taken on July 9, reveals new geological details of the dwarf planet never before seen -- such as a dark band scientists call "The Whale," due to its shape, located in Pluto's southern hemisphere.

"We're close enough now that we're just starting to see Pluto's geology," New Horizons program scientist Curt Niebur said. "It's a unique transition region with a lot of dynamic processes interacting, which makes it of particular scientific interest."

The New Horizons craft launched in 2006 and has so far traveled about three billion miles in outer space. It is expected to fly by Pluto July 14, NASA said.

The probe's Long Range Reconnaissance Imager is capable of taking black and white photographs of Pluto's surface. Among other new finds in the photo is a polygonal feature and a band of complex patterns, scientists said.

"Among the structures tentatively identified in this new image are what appear to be polygonal features; a complex band of terrain stretching east-northeast across the planet, approximately 1,000 miles long; and a complex region where bright terrains meet the dark terrains of the whale," New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern said. "After nine and a half years in flight, Pluto is well worth the wait."

When the probe flies by Pluto on Tuesday, it will take more photographs and detailed measurements of the dwarf planet and its moons, NASA said.

After leaving Pluto, the New Horizons probe will continue on to explore another object located in the Kuiper belt.