Pluto: Ocean Discovered Beneath The Dwarf Planet’s Icy Surface
Pluto, a distant dwarf planet in our solar system, may be hiding an ocean under its icy surface according to a new report from the journal Nature.
“Pluto is an astoundingly diverse, geologically dynamic world,” the report begins. “The dominant feature is Sputnik Planitia — a tear-drop-shaped topographic depression approximately 1,000 kilometres in diameter possibly representing an ancient impact basin.”
Sputnik is home to large deposits of “volatile ices.”
“The interior of Sputnik Planitia is characterized by a smooth, craterless plain three to four kilometres beneath the surrounding rugged uplands, and represents the surface of a massive unit of actively convecting volatile ices (N2, CH4 and CO) several kilometres thick,” the report explains.
Evidence is mounting for an ocean of slushy water at Pluto, buried beneath its frozen heart. https://t.co/pDY3qwaf9b
— The Associated Press (@AP) November 16, 2016
While scientists have known for some time that Pluto’s surface was covered in frozen gases, the possibility of an ocean, probably “slushy with ice,” deeper within the dwarf planet is a new discovery, according to Reuters.
The ocean is roughly 93 to 124 miles underground, and is estimated to be about 62 miles deep, planetary scientist Francis Nimmo of the University of California, Santa Cruz, told Reuters.
While water is one of the fundamental elements required to generate and maintain life, Massachusetts Institute of Technology planetary scientist Richard Binzel explained that it is not likely there is life on Pluto because of the thick layers of ice that cover it.
“One is careful to never say the word impossible,” Binzel added, however.
Despite it’s great distance from the sun and temperatures that can drop to minus 387 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Space.com, Pluto has retained enough radioactive heat from its formation 4.6 billion years ago to prevent the water in its interior from completely freezing, Reuters reports.
“Pluto has enough rock that there’s quite a lot of heat being generated, and an ice shell a few hundred kilometers thick is quite a good insulator,” Nimmo told Reuters. “So a deep subsurface ocean is not too surprising, especially if the ocean contains ammonia, which acts like an antifreeze.”
Underground ocean found on Pluto, likely slushy with ice https://t.co/0oAKPF1EEd pic.twitter.com/rrMHrgcM7r
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) November 17, 2016
Researchers discovered the possibility of a subterranean ocean after studying images and data collected by NASA’s New Horizons space probe. New Horizons was launched in January of 2006 and flew past Pluto and its “entourage of moons” in July of 2015, according to Reuters.
The images led the researchers to believe that the Sputnik Planitia basin was filled with ice, which caused Pluto to tilt and crack its outer crust. According to the Nature report, this could only happen if an ocean lie beneath Pluto’s surface.
Pluto was officially downgraded from a planet to a dwarf planet in 2006, according to Space.com. Prior to that it had been considered a planet since soon after its discovery in 1930.
Space.com says there are four other recognized dwarf planets in our solar system — Eris, Haumea, Makemake, and Ceres.
Eris was discovered in 2005 by Caltech astronomers, and its discovery ultimately led to Pluto being stripped of its designation as a planet. Eris is roughly the same size as Pluto, but is far denser. It also travels in a much broader orbit, even though both dwarf planets reside in the Kuiper Belt. It takes Eris approximately 557 years to make one orbit around the sun, according to Space.com.
Like Pluto, both Haumea and Ceres are thought to contain large deposits of frozen water.
“Scientists recently discovered that 75 percent of Haumea’s surface is covered with crystalline water ice, similar to the stuff found in your freezer,” Space.com reports.
Pluto may not be a planet anymore, but knowing that it is filled with water is bound to make it the subject of increased interest for astronomers.
New Horizons is now headed to another “frozen world” in the Kuiper Belt. That object, known as 2014 MU69, according to Reuters, rests about one billion miles beyond Pluto. New Horizons is expected to fly past 2014 MU69 on January 1, 2019.
[Featured Image by NASA/Getty Images]
