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Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis and the Lunar and Planetary Institute have utilized mathematical models and high-resolution images from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft to investigate a potential subsurface ocean beneath Pluto’s nitrogen, methane, and water ice shell.
This high-resolution image of Pluto was taken by New Horizons on July 14. Pluto’s surface boasts an astonishing range of subtle colors, highlighted in this view by a rainbow of pale blues, yellows, oranges, and deep reds. Many landforms have unique colors that tell complex geological and climatological stories that scientists are only just beginning to decipher. Image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute.
For years, scientists believed Pluto couldn’t sustain an ocean due to its extremely cold temperatures, freezing even nitrogen and methane gases.
Despite its size and temperature, recent studies suggest Pluto might indeed have a subsurface ocean, supported by evidence such as cryovolcanoes ejecting ice and water vapor.
A new study by Dr. Nguyen and Dr. McGovern explores this possibility, using mathematical models to analyze the ice covering Pluto’s Sputnik Platina basin and estimating the thickness and density of the potential ocean beneath.
The study proposes that Pluto’s oceans could be more dense than Earth’s seawater, with a protective ice shell preventing solidification.
The paper was published in the journal Icarus, detailing the research on Pluto’s ocean salinity and potential implications.
Pluto’s mysteries remain a subject of interest for future researchers, as the space agency currently has no plans to revisit the distant dwarf planet.
Source: www.sci.news
