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First close-up image of Pluto's surface released

The first ever close-up image of Pluto's surface has been released following the historic fly past of Nasa's New Horizons space probe.

The spacecraft has taken nine years to reach the dwarf planet.

The latest images released by Nasa has shown more details of Pluto and its largest moon Charon, including surface material and features.

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Stephen Hawking expects even more from New Horizons

Cosmologist Stephen Hawking believes there are more secrets of our solar system that will be revealed following Nasa's historic mission to Pluto.

Speaking on Nasa TV after the New Horizons probe successfully flew past the dwarf planet, Hawking congratulated the team on their "pioneering" mission.

Now the solar system will be further opened up to us, revealing the secrets of distant Pluto. The revelations of New Horizons may help us better understand how our solar system was formed.

We explore because we are human and we want to know. I hope that Pluto will help us on that journey.

– Stephen Hawking

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