Pluto's Surface Has a Surprising Amount of Water Ice (Photo)
These maps of water ice on Pluto's surface were created using data captured by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft during its flyby of the dwarf planet on July 14, 2015. The map at left is an early effort; the one at right used modeling techniques to achieve greater sensitivity.
Credit: NASA/JHUIAPL/SwRI

Water ice is surprisingly abundant on Pluto's surface, a new map of the dwarf planet reveals.

Scientists created the map using data collected by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft during its epic flyby of Pluto last July.

The new map is more sensitive than an earlier version also produced using flyby observations, and thus shows more water ice — the dwarf planet's bedrock material — cropping up across Pluto's surface than had been seen previously, NASA officials said.