'Psychedelic' Pluto Created by NASA Scientists with New, Spectacular Photo

First Posted: Nov 16, 2015 08:14 AM EST

The new picture of Pluto may be a bit more colorful than you're used to. NASA has released a photo of the tiny planet that's colored in spectacular, psychedelic hues.

New Horizons scientists actually created the new false color image of Pluto using a technique called principal component analysis in order to highlight the many subtle color differences between Pluto's distinct regions. The image data for the new picture was collected by New Horizons with its Ralp/MVIC color camera on July 14 at 11:11 a.m. UTC.

The data used for this image was gathered when the spacecraft was about 22,000 miles away from the surface of Pluto. It reveals new information about the details on Pluto, and gives scientists a clearer view of these features by using the different colors.

Currently, the New Horizons spacecraft is speeding toward the Kuiper Belt. Its historic flyby of Pluto, though, is continually revealing more information about the dwarf planet. This is because it's continually transmitting back data to Earth. It's likely that the full amount of data that it's collected won't be combed through fully for years to come. As more and more information is sent back, though, scientists are learning more and more about the dwarf planet located in the far reaches of our solar system.

For more information about the New Horizons mission, visit NASA's website.

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Tagspluto, New Horizons, NASA New Horizons Spacecraft, NASA’s, Pluto System, Planet, Solar System