The United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration agency has released an infrared image of Pluto taken by its New Horizons spacecraft, which shows that the majority of the planet is covered by water ice, reported Wired. The new map, which shows where the spectral features of water ice are abundant on its surface, is based on two Linear Etalon Imaging Spectral Array scans of the dwarf planet obtained on July 14, 2015.

According to NASA, the water ice on Pluto gets covered by volatile ices of methane, nitrogen, and carbon monoxide over the course of changing seasons and the volatile ices hide the H2O. The new map shows relatively less water ice in the Sputnik Planum, which forms the left side of Pluto's heart-like feature. Sputnik Planum is believed to be made of nitrogen ice, methane ice, and carbon monoxide. Scientists believe that the planet's 'northern bald spot' called the Lowell Regio is also mostly made up of the same volatile ices.