The ex-planet is news again!
Image taken by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft
NASA had launched its Pluto mission back in 2006 and in the same year the planet status was revoked from Pluto; it wasn’t a planet anymore. NASA’s spacecraft New Horizons did a flyby of Pluto and sent some images of the ex-planet. What the NASA scientists saw in the images has thrown new light on Pluto.
Here we are going to talk about facts about Pluto which you must know.
Not that small: Although, it is still a dwarf planet, but because of the recent images sent by NASA’s spacecraft it came to light that Pluto is actually bigger than previously estimated. According to the new and more accurate measurements, Pluto is actually 44 miles wider at its diameter, than the previously thought of.
A thicker atmosphere: Pluto’s atmosphere is much thicker than that of the earth in the proportion of the planet’s size. The reason why the atmosphere is thick is because the planet is losing its atmosphere at a faster rate than previously estimated. The nitrogen levels showed up four days prior than expected, which lead to the conclusion that the planet is losing its atmosphere at a faster rate than concluded previously.
Polar Ice Cap: Images from New Horizons also revealed that the polar cap is made up of ice and frozen gases such as methane and nitrogen.
Pluto’s Heart: One of the most popular images that have been widely circulated is the blurred image of a heart-shaped feature on the planet’s surface which is approximately 1,000 miles across. NASA’s scientists feel that it is a possible sign of ongoing geologic processes.
According to NASA, the New Horizons spacecraft is the space agency’s first ever space mission to explore the edge of the solar system. The spacecraft’s flyby has given us new insights of Pluto and its five planets and also the Kuiper Belt and the icy objects in it which range from the size of boulders to dwarf planets. NASA scientists also feel that objects in the Kuiper Belt contain evidence of the formation of the solar system.
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