It had been a rough decade for Pluto, what with the celestial body being downgraded from planet to dwarf planet in 2006. But now, following a nine-year trek billions of miles across the solar system, Pluto has captured the public’s imagination and a new dawn has risen – it has become a meme.

Following yesterday’s historic flyby by the New Horizons space probe, sending back the most detailed images ever seen of the planet and its surface, the general fascination and good will towards the success of the mission has transferred to many good-natured puns and jokes on Twitter.

The planet’s mysterious surface, where complex geological processes has created a heart shape, a whale shape, and a doughnut shape, have triggered the Internet’s fascination with people seeing what pop-cultural references can been seen on the now iconic image of Pluto. Here are some of the best...