Pluto filled with ‘spectacular colours’ and varying terrain, Nasa’s New

While the bulk of New Horizons’ observations has yet to make it back to Earth, researchers have seen enough to draw at least one wide-ranging conclusion about the origin and evolution of the Pluto-Charon system. The research suggests that other large worlds in the Kuiper belt – such as Eris, Makemake, and Haumea – could also have similarly complex histories that rival those of terrestrial planets such as Mars and Earth.

So what are the discoveries so far?

On flyby day we learned that Pluto’s heart was broken in half – enhanced color images showed that the Tombaugh Regio’s surface was actually split down the middle.

But that still leaves the question of what is pushing them up from the surface of the planet.

Prof Alan Fitzsimmons of Queens University in Belfast says that the initial data suggests the atmosphere may have been thicker in the past.

If so, Sputnik Planum could be where the inside of Pluto and its atmosphere exchange material.

A near-sunset view of the rugged, icy mountains and flat ice plains on Pluto.

That theory is borne out by the observation of dunes on the surface not unlike those in the deserts of Earth.

Sputnik Planum, a shiny plain of icy flows, might be the answer: a gateway between the atmosphere and the lukewarm hell of the core. That means that something is happening to smooth over the holes left by impacts.

Next to the light-coloured Sputnik Planum lies the dark, cratered, ancient-looking Cthulhu region.

What is driving that geological activity? There are no craters in the region, leading scientists to think it is no more than 100m years old. The question is why the terrain is so diverse.

“When we get done, there will be people clamoring for an oribter to Pluto”. Also visible in the area are apparent glaciers made up of nitrogen, methane and carbon monoxide ices that appear to flow around obstructions. But why are other areas not like this? The colors are processed to best highlight the variation of surface properties across Charon.

One theory is that there are two geysers at the centre of each lobe that shoot material up above the surface which is then blown by a light wind into the heart shape as it comes back to the surface.

“This is surprising because it was believed that Pluto – due to its small size – lost all its heat and evolved into a frozen world with no significant geological activity”, MIT professor Hilke Schlichting, who wasn’t affiliated with the study, told Mashable via email. From the variety in Pluto’s geological landforms, to Pluto’s atmosphere, to its intriguing moons, New Horizons has revealed a degree of diversity and complexity on Pluto and its moons that few expected in the frigid outer reaches of the solar system. Prof Stern has in the past argued for reinstatement – but seems to have grown tired of the discussion.

The dark coating may be methane that has gone through chemical processing in the atmosphere, says Jeff Moore, a team member and planetary scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.

“The fact that astronomers do not is of little concern to me”.

But “we’ll be able to tell how big they are – we’ll be able to tell you that”, McKinnon said.

“It’s the equivalent of asking a divorce lawyer about tax law; its immaterial”.

For now, scientists are really just taking stock. For me, that’s a non-argument.

In other words, stay tuned, because more dispatches from the Kuiper Belt are in the works. Astronomers now know that it is one of a whole class of “dwarf planets” lurking at the edge of our solar system. “That is a good classification because we are seeing something that is different to the rest of the objects in the Solar System”. At Pluto’s distance from the Sun, water ice is as hard as rock, and it takes a lot of energy to thrust it high above the surrounding terrain.

Scientists speculated before the flyby that there would be evaporation and condensation of nitrogen as the surface warmed and cooled. From the east, nitrogen glaciers pour into the plain.

“The New Horizons mission completes our initial reconnaissance of the solar system, giving humanity our first look at this fascinating world and its system of moons”, Jim Green, director of planetary science at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said in a press release.

Better measurements of the composition of Pluto’s four smaller moons should also help reconstruct the crash.

Pluto’s large moon, Charon, is providing its own share of surprises.

“The mountains detected by New Horizons imagery therefore imply the presence of a widespread, stronger, presumably water ice-based, solid ‘bedrock.’ We further conclude that the observed N2, CO, and CH4 (nitrogen, carbon monoxide and methane) ices must only be a surface veneer above this bedrock”, they wrote. For them, too, more information is still to come. “New Horizons is not only writing the textbook on the Pluto system, it’s serving to inspire current and future generations to keep exploring-to keep searching for what’s beyond the next hill”.