NASA’s New Horizons mission has captured several images of Pluto, revealing that the dwarf planet could have a semi-frozen ocean underneath an ice shell.
NASA’s New Horizons mission recently completed its flyby of Pluto, leaving researchers in a frenzy to make sense of the dwarf planet’s surface.
So far, researchers have determined that Pluto remains geologically active and bears both mountains and fresh surfaces that haven’t been the unlucky recipients of impacts.
Read: NASA spacecraft “œNew Horizons“ reaches Pluto
Of more interest, it has been determined that one of Pluto’s largest features – the Sputnik Planum – could be an ocean of semi-frozen nitrogen.
A recent analysis of Pluto’s internal structure reveals that the dwarf planet either has a ‘deep ocean of liquid water’, or that water on the planet has frozen solid and compacted into a denser form of ice named ice II.
A new dissertation published in Geophysical Research Letters details two different theories; that Pluto – since its inception as a planet – has entered either a ‘cold’ or ‘warm’ scenario.
Put simply, the former would see the dwarf planet’s oceans freeze and compact into ice II, causing the entirety of the world to contract. Alternatively, the latter would see slow-freezing water present on the planet’s surface – and as ice is less dense than liquid water, the planet would theoretically be experiencing an expansion.
The authors rationalize that “Since there is no strong evidence of compressional tectonic activity, we conclude that ice II has not formed.” Hence, if this theory is correct, it could well mean that Pluto bears water deep within its interior and that the planet is slowly freezing and expanding to a greater size.
The images captured from New Horizons will enable researchers to study exactly how much water is left on the dwarf planet, or if it has indeed been compacted into ice II.
Read: Planet Nine – Massive new planet discovered in our solar system
What are your thoughts on the likelihood that Pluto could carry water beneath its surface? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!
Follow Bryan Smith on Twitter: @bryansmithSA
Source: ArsTechnica
