Scientists find new features on the surface of Pluto

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has been busy, particularly this year as it has sent the never before photos of Pluto and is now onto bigger things. New Horizons made its first flyby of Pluto on July 14 and since then has been sending data about the planet and its five moons. Ever since the scientists received the photos, they have been trying to figure out new things about the planet and its moons. A few of those are the discovery of flowing ice and a surprising extended haze. However, it is not a secret that Pluto is an icy plane as the scientists have known it for a long time. The discovery of atmosphere on Pluto has surprised scientists all over the world. On July 14, moments after its closest approach to Pluto, the spacecraft turned around pointing its Long range Reconnaissance Imager towards Earth and while doing so it revealed Pluto’s atmosphere as the sunlight could be seen streaming through it. New Horizons Principal investigator, Alan Stern said,” My jaw was on the ground when I saw this image of an alien atmosphere in the Kuiper belt. It reminds us that exploration brings us more than incredible discoveries-it brings incredible beauty.”The researcher have suggested that by analyzing the newly sent images by New Horizons, they will be able to know a lot more about the atmosphere of Pluto.

Through initial observations, they found out that Pluto’s atmosphere had two distinct layers of Haze that extended 130 kilometers above the surface which is five times more than what was expected. This type of haze is formed when simple atmospheric hydrocarbons like methane gas are blasted by the UV light from the Sun. Further breakdown of Methane leads to the formation of ethylene and acetylene, both of which are present in the atmosphere of Pluto.

Another major discovery was the finding of a mountain range on Pluto that bears a resemblance to the Rockies that were formed here on Earth. What’s more interesting is the fact that just a little to the right; there is another mountain range that looks like the Appalachians in the United States.  Scientists have also received some information about the smaller moons of Pluto, Nix and Hydra. Hydra is estimated to be 55 kilometers long by 40 kilometers wide and Nix is assumed to be 42 kilometers long by 36 kilometers. The images of the tiniest moons of Pluto will only be available by October, till then they remain a mystery to us.

Image Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI