Disney's Pluto spotted on Pluto

Credit: @mashable / Twitter

Credit: @mashable / Twitter


While the New Horizons spacecraft makes history by getting closer to Pluto than ever before, scientists are discovering formations on the dwarf planet...some that appear to look like a lovable cartoon dog.

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Horizons team member Amanda Zangari noticed geological formations that match up to resemble Disney's Pluto the dog.

reports:

A series of dark and light squiggles creates what look like two ears, two eyes, a nose and even the tongue of Pluto the dog in an image taken of the planet by the New Horizons spacecraft on July 11.

"We will know what they [the Pluto the dog formations] are made out of in a few days,"

deputy project scientist Leslie Young told Mashable in an interview Monday.

The lovable pooch isn't the only image scientists have seen: a bright, heart-shaped image and a 'whale's tail' were discovered on the planet's surface earlier in the mission.

Tuesday marks the

of Pluto in history (within 7,800 miles), allowing humans to explore the dwarf planet at close range.

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