A new photograph, released by NASA, may reveal one of the largest ‘ice volcanoes’ in the solar system on far-flung Pluto.

The latest image of Pluto was taken by the New Horizons space probe during its flyby of the mysterious dwarf planet in July 2015, and its impressive level of detail has left mission scientists intrigued.

The region in the imagery, dubbed ‘Wright Mons’ by New Horizons mission scientists, reveals a potential ice volcano, also known as a ‘cryovolcano’.

At 150 kilometres wide and four kilometres high, the new discovery is potentially the largest cryovolcano in the solar system.

Scientists revealed Wright Mons and one other possible cryovolcano during a press release last year.

    

“These are big mountains with a large hole in their summit, and on Earth that generally means one thing – a volcano,” New Horizons postdoctoral researcher Oliver White said.

While a typical volcano will erupt molten rock, a cryovolcano erupts cryomagma, an icy substance typically made up of liquid water, ammonia or methane.

Only one impact crater has so far been identified in the image, indicating that the surface around Wright Mons has been softened by relatively recent cryovolcanic activity.

The striking image also shows deposits of red material on the surface, however mission scientists have been left puzzled as to why the distribution of the red material is so sparse in this area.

So far, direct evidence of cryovolcanism has only been observed on moons in the outer solar system, where cooler temperatures permit the formation and eruption of cryomagma.