Pluto may contain a slush filled water ocean flowing beneath its most prominent surface, known as the "Heart."
The BBC says that this explains why a part of the heart, called the Sputnik Planitia, is fixed in alignment with Pluto's moon, Charon. An ocean beneath the ice-filled crust could act as a heavy weight that rolled Pluto over, so, that Sputnik faces the moon. The findings are reportedly based on data from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft.
Reuters further reported that the findings were published in two research papers on Nature, adding that Pluto to an increasing list of potential planets which could habour underground oceans.
Pluto's oceans would be slushy with ice, lies 93 to 124 miles beneath the planet's icy surface and is about 62 miles deep, says Planetary scientist Francis Nimmo.
The report also stated that Pluto is not the first thing on anyone's mind for life, said MIT planetary scientist Richard Binzel, but Binzel did add that they can never be too sure.
With its ocean covered by so much ice, Pluto is not a prime candidate for life, added Massachusetts Institute of Technology planetary scientist Richard Binzel, another of the researchers. But Binzel added that "one is careful to never say the word impossible."
"It shows that nature is more creative than we are able to imagine, which is why we go and explore," Binzel added. "We see what nature is capable of doing." reported reuters.
NASA's space probe flew past the planet in july 2015 and is now on its way to the Kuiper belt, another icy region of the solar system beyond Neptune's orbit.
Sputnik Planitia is a reported circular region and is aligned exactly opposite the moon, Charon. Charon and Pluto are tidally locked.
