Evidence shows that Pluto is a young planet

The latest image provided by New Horizons spacecraft shows evidence of Pluto's youthfulness: glaciers are flowing on its surface.

The latest image provided by New Horizons spacecraft shows evidence of Pluto's youthfulness: glaciers are flowing on its surface.

Pluto is a young planet

By observing high-resolution images sent by the New Horizons spacecraft of the US Aeronautics Agency (NASA) on July 24, scientists discovered glaciers flowing on the surface of Pluto. Wang, the hazy atmosphere and rain of organic compounds on this planet.

"We have real evidence of Pluto's recent geological activity," National Geographic quoted Bill McKinnon of Washington University as saying.

The latest photos mainly focus on the area called Rombaugh Regio , or "heart" on the face of Pluto. This is an area consisting of a variety of terrain types with a relatively flat center, rugged edges.

The west of the "heart" area concentrates ice mountains and slopes. In the north is the giant Sputnik Planum ice field , where the flow of nitrogen glaciers appears. In the south, the ice flows continuously around the Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay ranges , then accumulates in large impact craters.

"Nitrogen ice, carbon monoxide tape, methane ice are all soft, malleable even under conditions of Pluto. They flow similar to glaciers on Earth. This is really a young planet," McKinnon to speak.

New Horizons has also gathered more parameters related to Pluto's atmosphere . New data shows that Pluto's atmosphere has lost about half its volume in the past two years. It is still too early to draw conclusions, but this shows that something has created a significant change above.

The sky of Pluto is covered with mist created by small particles, which distribute up to a height of 160 km, then fall back to the planet's surface. The fog layer contributes to the red color of Pluto.

It is very difficult to observe the thin fog if we stand at the surface of Pluto, but if it is illuminated from behind, it can be seen clearly. New Horizons captured this mist in the location 11.2 million kilometers from Pluto

" The fog has a wide range. It forms high in the atmosphere, where the temperature is hot. This is a mystery," said Michael Summers of George Mason University in the US. "We will try to understand this in the near future."

Anlen Stern, project manager of New Horizons, said: "Pluto has a very interesting history, and we have much to do to understand this complex."

Update 17 December 2018
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