{"id":16002,"date":"2015-10-08T18:51:56","date_gmt":"2015-10-08T10:51:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/skies-are-blue-and-water-ice-is-red-on-pluto\/"},"modified":"2015-10-08T18:51:56","modified_gmt":"2015-10-08T10:51:56","slug":"skies-are-blue-and-water-ice-is-red-on-pluto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/skies-are-blue-and-water-ice-is-red-on-pluto\/","title":{"rendered":"Skies are blue and water ice is red on Pluto"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Pluto\u2019s
Pluto\u2019s haze layer shows its blue color in this picture taken by the New Horizons Ralph\/Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC). The high-altitude haze is thought to be similar in nature to that seen at Saturn\u2019s moon Titan. The source of both hazes likely involves sunlight-initiated chemical reactions of nitrogen and methane, leading to relatively small, soot-like particles (called tholins) that grow as they settle toward the surface. This image was generated by software that combines information from blue, red and near-infrared images to replicate the color a human eye would perceive as closely as possible. Credit: NASA\/JHUAPL\/SWRI<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It turns out Pluto\u2019s distinct haze layer carries a bluish hue, and deposits of water ice poking out from the frozen world\u2019s crust are covered in a red sheen, scientists said Thursday.<\/p>\n

Armed with fresh insights each week, researchers probing Pluto\u2019s mysteries are now applying data from the New Horizons spacecraft\u2019s full instrument to answer key questions about the dwarf planet\u2019s structure and geologic processes.<\/p>\n

The haze ring around Pluto was first resolved in black and white by New Horizons\u2019 telescopic high-resolution camera just after the probe passed by the icy world July 14. The latest view comes from the spacecraft\u2019s Ralph color camera.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat striking blue tint tells us about the size and composition of the haze particles,\u201d said Carly Howett, New Horizons science team researcher from the Southwest Research Institute. \u201cA blue sky often results from scattering of sunlight by very small particles. On Earth, those particles are very tiny nitrogen molecules. On Pluto they appear to be larger \u2014 but still relatively small \u2014 soot-like particles we call tholins.\u201d<\/p>\n

Close-up imagery of the haze revealed complex layering scientists are struggling to explain, but a leading theory is that nitrogen and methane particles sublimated and lofted from Pluto\u2019s icy surface react with ultraviolet sunlight high in Pluto\u2019s rarefied atmosphere, creating small, lightweight particles called tholins, which have the characteristics of soot.<\/p>\n

The tholins settle back on Pluto\u2019s surface, and the material gives off the reddish color widespread on Pluto\u2019s crust. Some geologists also believe some tholins that escape from Pluto\u2019s weak gravitational grasp are captured on the moon Charon, which has a large red feature near its frigid north pole.<\/p>\n

The cycle gives rise to a tenuous weather cycle, with sublimation from one region and snowfall on another part of Pluto.<\/p>\n

\"Regions
Regions with exposed water ice are highlighted in blue in this composite image from New Horizons\u2019 Ralph instrument, combining visible imagery from the Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC) with infrared spectroscopy from the Linear Etalon Imaging Spectral Array (LEISA). The strongest signatures of water ice occur along Virgil Fossa, just west of Elliot crater on the left side of the inset image, and also in Viking Terra near the top of the frame. A major outcrop also occurs in Bar\u00e9 Montes towards the right of the image, along with numerous much smaller outcrops, mostly associated with impact craters and valleys between mountains. The scene is approximately 280 miles (450 kilometers) across. Note that all surface feature names are informal. Credit: NASA\/JHUAPL\/SWRI<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Spectral data recently returned from New Horizons gives scientists a taste for the composition of Pluto\u2019s surface, revealing patches of water ice centered on highlands, mountain peaks, craters, valleys and other regions with rough topography. The smoother plains of Sputnik Planum, with its glacial-like flows, are likely made mostly of frozen nitrogen and methane.<\/p>\n

\u201cLarge expanses of Pluto don\u2019t show exposed water ice because it\u2019s apparently masked by other, more volatile ices across most of the planet,\u201d said James Cook, a New Horizons science team member from SWRI, in a NASA press release. \u201cUnderstanding why water appears exactly where it does, and not in other places, is a challenge that we are digging into.\u201d<\/p>\n

Comparing the spectral data with images of Pluto shows the water ice locations match areas that appear primarily red in color.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m surprised that this water ice is so red,\u201d says Silvia Protopapa, a science team member from the University of Maryland, College Park. \u201cWe don\u2019t yet understand the relationship between water ice and the reddish tholin colorants on Pluto\u2019s surface.\u201d<\/p>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pluto\u2019s haze layer shows its blue color in this picture taken by the New Horizons Ralph\/Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC). The high-altitude haze is thought to be similar in nature to that seen at Saturn\u2019s moon Titan. The source of both hazes likely involves sunlight-initiated chemical reactions of nitrogen and methane, leading to relatively small, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2174,2848],"class_list":["post-16002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-new-horizons","tag-pluto"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16002"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16002\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}