Photos of Pluto and Its Moons

ALMA View of Pluto and Charon 2

ALMA radio observatory in Chile observed Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, on July 15, 2014.

Pluto and Charon on July 15, 2014

A still from an animated image of ALMA data shows the motion of the moon Charon around the icy dwarf planet Pluto on July 15, 2014.

Pluto and Charon on July 11, 2014

A still from an animated image of ALMA data shows the motion of the moon Charon around the icy dwarf planet Pluto on July 11, 2014.

Pluto Encounter Panoramic View

At its closest, NASA's New Horizons mission will fly within 6,200 miles of Pluto's surface.

Pluto

Pluto tracking across the night sky, May 8-20, 1997. The superimposed red points show the moving point that the JCMT measured for the dwarf planet and its moons during this time.

Pluto from New Horizons

First Pluto sighting from New Horizons.

Detection of Hydra by New Horizons

The detection of Hydra in the long-exposures taken by New Horizons' Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI).

Pluto and Charon Seen by New Horizons

New Horizons LOng Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) composite image showing the detection of Pluto’s largest moon, Charon, cleanly separated from Pluto itself. The frame on the left is an average of six different LORRI images, each taken with an exposure time of 0.1 second. The frame to the right is the same composite image but with Pluto and Charon circled; Pluto is the brighter object near the center and Charon is the fainter object near its 11 o’clock position. Images released July 10, 2013. [Read the Full Story]

Charon Visible Orbiting Pluto

Charon is visible for the first time in pictures taken by the Pluto-bound New Horizons spacecraft. Image released July 10, 2013. [Read the Full Story]

Charon as a 'Bump' on Pluto

Charon is visible as a “bump” moving around Pluto in the moon’s discovery images, taken with the 1.55-meter (61-inch) Kaj Strand Astrometric Reflector at the U.S. Naval Observatory’s Flagstaff Station in 1978. [Read the Full Story]