Incredible Close-Up of Ice Mountains on Pluto’s Moon Nix Captured in Stunning Video | Watch

In the vast expanse of our solar system, far beyond the reaches of Earth, there lies a frozen world Pluto. But one of its moons, Nix, has just captured our imagination with an astonishing discovery.

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has delivered jaw-dropping video of Pluto's moon Nix, showcasing something no one expected towering ice mountains, some as high as 11,000 feet.

These magnificent ice peaks are made of pure water ice. But on Nix, the cold is so intense, the ice behaves more like rock, standing tall against the harsh environment of space.

These ice mountains are surprisingly young, only about 100 million years old. A blink in time when compared to the 4.56 billion-year age of our entire solar system.

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Using data collected by the spacecraft’s LEISA spectral imager, researchers are uncovering the true nature of Nix’s surface coarse, pure water ice that behaves like rock due to the extreme cold of Pluto.

Interestingly, while Nix and Hydra are similar in size, they show significant differences in their ice surfaces. Nix has a greater coverage of water ice, while Hydra displays a higher reflectivity in visible wavelengths. This contrast adds another layer of intrigue for scientists attempting to unravel the moons' compositions and histories.

Captured from 37,000 miles away, New Horizons provided images with incredible detail, helping to expand our knowledge of Pluto’s distant moons, and uncovering the geological processes that have shaped them.

A stunning reminder that, even in the coldest, most distant corners of space, there are still wonders to be discovered.