Pluto image captured by the probe New Horizons. –
NASA
* Philippe Berry
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C is probably the image space of the year. Thursday, NASA unveiled a new photo captured by Pluto New Horizons probe. The light of the setting sun reveals the thin atmosphere of the dwarf planet and a studded surface nitrogen glaciers and mountains.

QUIZ. Pluto: Test your knowledge of the dwarf planet

En close-up, plain one distinguishes the best Sputnik and the massive Norgay Mountains, which rise to 3,500 meters. This image, captured on July 14, has a very pronounced curvature. This is because Pluto is slightly smaller than the Moon, with a diameter of 2390 km against 12,700 km for the Earth.

Last week, another set of pictures had provided evidence of existence of a “hydrologic” cycle on Pluto but with exotic ice composed of nitrogen.

NASA does not exclude, however, that the dwarf planet can house a ocean of liquid water under its icy crust. How is this possible ? His neighbor Charon is too small to exert a gravitational influence causing tidal force as Jupiter Ganymede or Europe. However, the giant collision that led to Pluto and Charon could have created an ocean that could store some of the core to remain liquid radioactive energy, especially in the presence of ammonia, which has antifreeze properties, one theory astrophysicists Amy Barr and Geoffrey Collins. Pluto has not finished revealing its secrets.