Pluto continues to impress. Photos from the New Horizons mission are continuing to come in and as can be seen from the article below, some indicate there are glaciers on Pluto, perhaps similar in nature to glaciers on Earth.
But one big difference here … the glaciers on Pluto are most likely made of Nitrogen.
All stop – think about that a second. Nitrogen is usually a gas. It freezes at minus (that’s a negative) 346°F.
That is pretty cold, but if you think about how far out in the solar system Pluto is, it just might make sense.
Couple that with possible geo-thermal activity still present there (fancy term for possible inner core heat still being present), then there is a chance that glacial activity, albeit nitrogen could still be present.
Interesting findings that are well worth a read and a share …
New Horizons: Pluto may have ‘nitrogen glaciers’
By Jonathan Amos
BBC Science Correspondent
24 July 2015
New Horizons has sped past Pluto and is continuing to image the dwarf planet to study its tenuous atmosphere backlit by the Sun Photo Credits: NASA/JHU-APL/SWRI
New Horizons has sped past Pluto and is continuing to image the dwarf planet to study its tenuous atmosphere backlit by the Sun
Pluto would appear to have glaciers of nitrogen ice …
Scientists believe they see evidence of surface material having flowed around mountains and even ponding in craters.
The activity is certainly recent, they say, and may even be current.
But the mission team cautions that it has received only 4-5% of the data gathered during 14 July’s historic flyby of the dwarf planet, and any interpretations must carry caveats.
These included the observation that Pluto has a much more rarified atmosphere than previously predicted by the models.
…… The other key detection was of hazes in the atmosphere. These are likely the consequence of high-up methane being broken apart and processed by sunlight into simple hydrocarbons like ethylene and acetylene, which then fall, cool and condense to form a mist of ice particles.
Some of this material will probably be further processed into more complex chemistry that rains on to the surface to give certain regions their characteristic reddish hue.
Just a small amount of heat from below could be enough to enable the very cold nitrogen, carbon monoxide and methane ices to flow
…… And if there was still warmth coming from Pluto’s interior then this could allow any surface ices to move and follow a slope, explained co-investigator Bill McKinnon from Washington University in St Louis.
The mission team says the ice appears to flow around the mountains and collect in craters
…… In September, engineers will command New Horizons to start sending back all of the outstanding scientific data it gathered during the flyby……. The whole process – encompassing all observations of Pluto and its five moons – will not be completed until late 2016.
However, the New Horizons team says it will share the discoveries as they are made during the long downlinking period.
This photo couples enhanced or “stretched” colours with a high-resolution black-and-white image. This amplifies any compositional and textural differences that may be present at the surface
