The New Horizon spacecraft has definitely given humanity new perspectives on Pluto. Last July, the NASA spacecraft got as close as any object from Earth to a world once regarded as a planet, then unceremoniously demoted because of un-planet-like behavior.
The New Horizon spacecraft has definitely given humanity new perspectives on Pluto. Last July, the NASA spacecraft got as close as any object from Earth to a world once regarded as a planet, then unceremoniously demoted because of un-planet-like behavior. During the Lunar and Planetary conference in Texas this week, NASA unveiled many of the images that New Horizon beamed back to Earth last year.
Far from being the frozen sphere of ice that many imagined it was, Pluto is revealed in these photos as a world with a number of stunning topographical features. New Horizon photographed mountain ranges, icy plains and the outline of what scientists believe was once a massive lake, judging by dendritic features carved into the ice.
These tantalizing signs that a liquid of some kind once flowed on Pluto’s surface has created speculation about the possibility of underground lakes.
Still, the water that once flowed on Pluto, when it had a much denser atmosphere, was likely composed of nitrogen. The surface of the sphere is minus 340 degrees Fahrenheit and all the ice that is there now is made of frozen nitrogen, methane and carbon monoxide.
Because of Pluto’s peculiar tilt toward the sun, it is said to have a tropical region and an arctic region, though the temperatures for both are far colder than such places on Earth.
One of New Horizon’s most intriguing discoveries is a vaguely heart-shaped region on the surface now called Tombaugh Regio. It was named for Clyde Tombaugh, the man who discovered Pluto in February 1930. Tombaugh would be pleased to see that his little world, now officially classified as a dwarf planet, continues to fascinate humans in ways that some full-fledged planets don’t.
New Horizon gave NASA enough data to study for years, but if the preliminary photos are any indication of what’s to come, Pluto is always going to confound expectations.
— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
