This breathtaking image of Pluto was taken by the NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft on July 15. The photo shows Pluto’s atmosphere backlit by the sun and reveals layers of haze that are several times higher than scientists predicted (as high as 80 miles).

The image was captured when the spacecraft was about 1.25 million miles (2 million kilometers) from Pluto.

To learn more about how the photo was taken and what this image means for scientific discovery, visit the photo link here.

We also encourage you to follow NASA Goddard’s photostream on Flickr to discover more stunning images.