Pluto is becoming a much weirder place than researchers first expected it to be. With new findings about its atmosphere and terrain, scientists have discovered that this planet is much more than what is revealed with a cursory glance. Now, a new comprehensive set of players has revealed a bit more about how strange this world really is.
Scientists at NASA have taken a closer look at Pluto's atmosphere, geology and features and created the first comprehensive set of papers describing the results from New Horizons' Pluto flyby last summer.
"Observing Pluto and Charon up close has caused us to completely reassess thinking on what sort of geological activity can be sustained on isolated planetary bodies in this distant region of the solar system, worlds that formerly had been thought to be relics little changed since the Kuiper Belt's formation," said Jeff Moore, lead author of the geology paper form NASA's Ames Research Center.
New Horizons has sent many images of the tiny world back to Earth, including ones that show off its geology and its atmosphere. One of these reveals the layers of haze above Pluto, which was taken by the Ralph/Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC). From the image, you can see about 20 different haze lasers. Each extends horizontally over hundreds of kilometers, but they aren't strictly parallel to the surface. For example, there's a layer about three miles above the surface that descends to the surface at night.
The diversity of Pluto's landscape largely stems from eons of interaction between methane, nitrogen and carbon monoxide ices with inert water ice.
"We see variations in the distribution of Pluto's volatile ices that point to fascinating cycles of evaporation and condensation," Will Grundy of the Lowell Observatory said. "These cycles are a lot richer than those on Earth, where there's really only one material that condenses and evaporates-water. On Pluto, there are at least three materials, and while they interact in ways we don't yet full understand, we definitely see their effects all across Pluto's surface."
The researchers have also found evidence that some of the moons of Pluto were created due to mergers of even smaller bodies.
"This is why we explore," said Curt Niebur, New Horizons program scientist. "The many discoveries from New Horizons represent the best of humankind and inspire us to continue the journey of exploration to the solar system and beyond."
