Astronomers from University of Maryland have become the first to submit a research paper on the New Horizons flyby of Pluto. The findings were published in the October 16, 2015 issues of the journal Science.

Protopapa during the research helped to detect composition of Pluto’s surface and also played a major role in locating ice on the dwarf planet. Hamilton, on the other hand, helped in confirmation of the shapes, sizes and unique rotations of two of Pluto's moons.

The researchers hope that their findings will help scientists to properly understand the origins and history of Pluto and its moons.

The paper published in the journal Science also revealed a colored image of Pluto. The photograph was captured using New Horizons Multi-spectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC). The image shows a wide variety of colors across Pluto’s surface ranging from dark, red regions at the equator to brighter, bluer regions at higher latitudes.

Protopapa, an assistant research scientist in astronomy at UMD, said, “We knew Pluto's surface was heterogeneous based on ground-based data. However, I was astonished to see such spectacular surface color and geological diversity”.

In order to know whether Pluto’s color diversity is due to its composition, the Protopapa along with her colleagues analyzed the data that was collected by the spacecraft's Linear Etalon Imaging Spectral Array (LEISA).

The team, in the research, reports significant regional differences in volatile ices on Pluto's surface. The western lobe of the heart-shaped region contains methane ice and carbon monoxide ice, whereas the dark red equatorial regions contain very less volatile ice, said the researchers.

The team is also planning to compare the New Horizons mission data with ground-based measurements taken at different seasons during Pluto's orbit as it will help to get a clearer picture of the complex mechanisms that shape Pluto's surface.