A new analysis of images taken by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft during its 2015 visit to Pluto has found evidence that liquid nitrogen is rising to the surface through cracks near the northern edge of Sputnik Planitia. NASA.
Recent evidence of fluid flow on Pluto has emerged. The new findings suggest that liquid nitrogen from beneath the icy surface could rise through cracks and reach Pluto’s surface.
“Pluto continues to surprise us,” said New Horizons mission principal investigator and lead author of the study, Alan Stern.
He explained that this discovery indicates the recent arrival of liquid to the surface of Pluto. It also suggests there may be a new type of feature on the dwarf planet that changes over time.
Sputnik Planitia is a vast frozen nitrogen glacier on Pluto. Its surface area exceeds the total area of the American states of Texas and Oklahoma.
In 2015, the New Horizons spacecraft took images of the northern section of Sputnik Planitia. These images revealed geological convection cells the size of a city, which are interspersed with thin dark lines and wider dark spots. These features indicate that fluid had previously flowed there.
According to a study published July 31 in Planetary Science Journal, these dark spots may sometimes become moist. Researchers believe liquid nitrogen could be the cause.
Experts specialized in planetary science related to Pluto and the study of glaciers on Earth participated in the study.
Surface patterns in the northern part of Sputnik Planitia appear dark. They resemble features found on glaciers on Earth that become wet due to rainfall or fluids rising from beneath the surface.
However, Pluto’s atmospheric and temperature conditions make liquid nitrogen rain impossible. This suggests that liquid nitrogen may be rising from the bottom of the glacier to the surface. A new discovery raises the possibility that liquid nitrogen sometimes rises to the surface through cracks in Pluto’s icy crust.
