Unexpected discovery: Pluto is capable of emitting X-rays

A team of researchers from NASA's Chandra Astronomical Observatory discovered X-ray light from Pluto (Pluto) . This finding shows a complex interaction between Pluto's leaked atmosphere and the solar wind.

Since it is no longer considered a planet, Pluto has always gained favor in many studies from scientists. Findings from the probes New Horizons and other works on this dwarf planet bring very unexpected and interesting results.

Astronomers have partnered with NASA's Chandra's greatest observatory and witnessed the moment when our favorite dwarf planet, Pluto emits X-rays . This is the first time an object in the Kuiper belt can do this.

This strange finding could help researchers learn more about Pluto's atmosphere as well as other objects at each solar system belt.

Carey Lisse, head of research at Johns Hopkins University, said: "We discovered for the first time that X-rays emitted from an object in the Kuiper belt and knew that Pluto was interacting with the solar wind in the an unexpected and energetic situation We are expecting another larger object in the Kuiper belt to repeat this ".

The team has been aware of the emergence of X-rays since 2015 in the journey of implementing the mission of New Horizons.

Chandra observatory moment captures Pluto to emit X-rays. (Photo: NASA).

When approaching distant planets, located at the farthest point, about 7.5 billion kilometers from Earth, astronomers from Chandra station observed Pluto at four different moments from February 2014 to May. 8/2015 and found evidence of X-ray presence in each time.

This is an amazing discovery, because unlike Pluto and other celestial bodies in the Solar System, why Pluto lacks magnetic fields and lies far from the Sun. These are two key factors for an object to emit X-rays.

Scott Wolk, a member of the team from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said: "Before we could see this phenomenon, scientists had doubts about Pluto's ability to emit X-rays. and thus a debate has arisen, asking a question about whether Chandra should observe Pluto as a whole. Before Pluto, Saturn's ring and disc are far from the Solar System. also emitted X-rays ".

Despite doubts from scientists, Lisse said that previous studies had hypothesized that the gas surrounding a planet could interact with charged particles in the solar wind to create X-rays. This hypothesis is now supported by the famous Chandra astronomical observatory.

However, the strange thing here is that why Pluto emits more X-rays than an object with only the surrounding gas and survives so far from the Sun.

Currently, there are still many things to learn and consider before making a final conclusion, the team thinks that there may be an amount of X-rays generated by interplanetary magnetic fields . They push solar particles towards Pluto, leading to X-rays emitting as much as predicted. Another theory is that there may be traces of gas behind the dwarf planets that the mission of New Horizons missed.

Astronomers are working on further research to understand the true nature of Pluto's release of X-rays and hopefully find evidence of other planets in the Kuiper belt. can emit this type of beam outside Pluto.