New Horizons: Changing Weather and Stunning Landscapes on Pluto [PHOTOS]

"There is a pronounced difference in texture between the younger, frozen plains to the east and the dark, heavily-cratered terrain to the west," Jeff Moore, leader of the New Horizons Geology, Geophysics and Imaging Team (GGI) recently pointed out, when discussing a photo snapped when New Horizons was about 48,000 miles (77,000 km) from Pluto.

The photo (above) depicts a newly discovered mountain range near the southwestern margin of Pluto's Tombaugh Regio (Tombaugh Region). Situated between bright, icy plains and dark, heavily-cratered terrain, the new mountains are estimated to be about as tall as the United States' Appalachian Mountains (~1 mi high). The Norgay Mountains, the first range discovered on Pluto, are similar to the taller Rocky Mountains, by comparison.

"There's a complex interaction going on between the bright and the dark materials that we're still trying to understand," Moore said.

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