Video: New Horizons animation

In a triumph of deep space navigation and with Pluto shrinking in its wake, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has steered on a course to reach a tiny object named 2014 MU69 for a whirlwind visit on New Year’s Day 2019.

Living up to promises that the view from New Horizons will only get better, the Pluto-bound spacecraft has again bested itself with a dazzling color view of Pluto and Charon released Thursday.

Using three images beamed back to Earth from the New Horizons spacecraft’s long-range camera, scientists created this jaw-dropping animation of what it might look like to buzz Pluto from 25 miles up.