Nasa has released new, high resolution photos of Pluto's largest moon, Charon, taken by the New Horizon spacecraft.

According to Nasa and Seti (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) scientists, the photos reveal a surprising and unexpected history of the territory. The photos show Charon is covered with mountains, canyons, landslides and other geographical markers.

Of particular interest is a large canyon system stretching across the entire visible face of the moon and probably beyond, into Charon's far side. The canyon stretches for over a thousand miles, making it four times the size of the Grand Canyon and twice as deep. The canyon indicates an immense geological upheaval in Charon's history.

South of the canyon lies another notable landmark - the Vulcan Planum. Vulcan Planum is a series of smooth plains with faint ridges and grooves. The southern region contains fewer craters than the northern region, which scientists say indicates a wide-scale resurfacing.

Higher-resolution images of Charon and composition data are expected to continue to arrive to Earth throughout the year, as New Horizons continues to transmit the data stored in its' digital recorders.

The New Horizons spacecraft transmitted the latest photos of Charon on September 21 but the photos were taken on July 14, when the spacecraft flew near Pluto.

New Horizons is currently five billion kilometres away from Earth.