The New Horizons spacecraft NASA shows the cover of frozen methane on Pluto peak

The NASA New Horizons team discovered an exotic methane snowy mountain chain spans a dark expanse of Pluto

NASA's New Horizons discovered an exotic methane chain covers an extensive dark on Pluto (Source: NASA)

The NASA New Horizons team discovered an exotic snowy mountains methane chain running through a dark stretch of Pluto.

One of the most identifiable features of Pluto, Cthulhu Regio stretches almost halfway around the equator of Pluto, from west of the large nitrogen ice plains known as Sputnik Planum.

Measuring about 3,000 kilometers long and 750 kilometers wide, Cthulhu is a little larger than the state of Alaska, NASA said.

Pluto above Cthulhu Regio (Source: NASA)

The appearance of Cthulhu is characterized by a dark surface, which scientists believe is due to be covered by a layer of dark tholins - complex molecules that form when methane is exposed to sunlight.

The geology of Cthulhu presents a wide variety of landscapes - mountains to smooth and heavily cratered and fractured, NASA said.

The probe New Horizons NASA shows the cover of frozen methane on Pluto peak

The images captured by New Horizons probe show a mountain range in south-Cthulhu which is 420 kilometers long.

The range is between craters, with narrow valleys between vertices. The upper slopes of the highest peaks are covered with a shiny material which contrasts sharply with the dark red color of the surrounding plains.

Scientists believe that this bright material might be predominantly methane that has condensed as ice on the tops of the atmosphere of Pluto.

"Whether it only material coats the upper slopes of the peaks suggests methane ice can act like water in the atmosphere of Earth, the condensation in the form of ice at high altitude," said John Stansberry, a member of New Horizons science team from Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Maryland.

NASA Pluto, New Horizons Spacecraft Pluto flyby, the Icy methane on Pluto tip, dwarf planet, science, space, technology, technology data on the composition of the MVIC New Horizons indicates that the location the brilliant ice on mountain tops (Source: NASA)

Data on the composition of the Ralph / Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC) New Horizons indicates that the location of glare ice on the mountain peaks correlates almost exactly with the distribution of methane ice.The images were obtained by New Horizons to a range of about 33,900 km of Pluto, about 45 minutes before approaching the nearest spacecraft to Pluto on July 14,

The images were obtained by New Horizons to a range of about 33,900 km of Pluto, about 45 minutes before approaching the nearest spacecraft to Pluto on July 14, last year.