After receiving the pictures of Pluto taken by the New Horizons probe, scientists in charge of the project were intrigued by formations resembling what could be liquid materials. After further analysis, their intuitions are confirmed. There could have used lakes and rivers of nitrogen on the surface of Pluto there are hundreds of thousands of years.
Nitrogen in the liquid state on Pluto
Pluto never ceases to fascinate researchers from New Horizons project. The probe provided them many clichés them to analyze in detail the planet surface. In October 2015, they found strange formations, like lakes. This is by performing modeling of climate changes that occurred on the dwarf planet they concluded in the presence of lakes and rivers nitrogen 900,000 years ago.
the remains of an ancient lake nitrogen on Pluto – screenshot of the Twitter account of NASA
” liquid could exist on Pluto “said the head of the mission, Alan Stern. If the planet is now frozen, it has experienced extreme climatic variations. Take the example of the Earth. If the poles of the planet are frozen this is due to its tilting axis which is 23 degrees from the sun. This axis can vary by plus or minus 1 degree on Pluto but in a few million years, this axis may be changed by more than 20 degrees. The pressures vary so greatly. When the pressure is very important, the nitrogen liquefies. “ Our modeling shows that the pressure could be 1,000 to 10,000 times higher in the past “, explained Alan Stern. therefore ideal conditions for that form lakes and rivers nitrogen.
Pluto is revealed gradually
Another puzzle that researchers have studied is the belt dark around the dwarf planet. This area of 13 degrees around the equator is never subject to seasonal polar night and thus is more heated than the rest of the dwarf planet. After analysis by the New Horizons probe it appears highly cratered. Pluto still raises many questions, it will take time for scientists to solve some of them.
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