{"id":19572,"date":"2015-11-09T17:50:24","date_gmt":"2015-11-09T09:50:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/ice-volcanoes-on-pluto-nasas-new-horizons-probe-spots-weird-mountains\/"},"modified":"2015-11-09T17:50:24","modified_gmt":"2015-11-09T09:50:24","slug":"ice-volcanoes-on-pluto-nasas-new-horizons-probe-spots-weird-mountains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/ice-volcanoes-on-pluto-nasas-new-horizons-probe-spots-weird-mountains\/","title":{"rendered":"Ice volcanoes on Pluto? NASA\u2019s New Horizons probe spots \u2018weird\u2019 mountains"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Piccard
A color-coded topographical map, based on New Horizons data, shows Piccard Mons on the surface of Pluto. The mountain\u2019s structure suggests that it\u2019s an ice volcano. (Credit: NASA \/ JHUAPL \/ SwRI)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Scientists with NASA\u2019s New Horizons mission say that at least a couple of the miles-high mountains on Pluto look as if they\u2019re ice-belching volcanoes, providing further evidence that the dwarf planet is geologically active.<\/p>\n

Although the case for cryovolcanoes isn\u2019t yet rock-solid, it\u2019s the \u201cleast weird explanation\u201d for the observations of 2-mile-high Wright Mons and 3-5-mile-high Piccard Mons, said Oliver White of NASA\u2019s Ames Research Center, a member of the mission\u2019s geology team.<\/p>\n

If the mountains\u2019 status is confirmed, \u201cthat would be one of the most phenomenal discoveries of New Horizons,\u201d White told reporters. \u201cWhatever they are, they\u2019re definitely weird.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pluto\u2019s potential status as a volcanic world was just one of the revelations that came to light on Monday during a review of New Horizons\u2019 latest discoveries at the annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society\u2019s Division for Planetary Sciences in National Harbor, Md.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe New Horizons mission has taken what we thought we knew about Pluto and turned it upside down,\u201d Jim Green, director of planetary science at NASA Headquarters, said in a news release about the findings.<\/p>\n

\"Like
Like Piccard Mons, Wright Mons has a summit depression that suggests it\u2019s an ice volcano on Pluto. (Credit: NASA \/ JHUAPL \/ SwRI)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The ice mountains are south of Sputnik Planum, near the edge of the disk that was imaged by the piano-sized New Horizons spacecraft as it sped past on July 14. Piccard Mons could be seen only in the twilight zone just outside the world\u2019s sun-illuminated half of Pluto. Each of the mountains is hundreds of miles wide, and have a structure similar to Mars\u2019 shield volcanoes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are big mountains with a large hole in their summit, and on Earth that generally means one thing \u2013 a volcano,\u201d White explained in NASA\u2019s news release. \u201cIf they are volcanic, then the summit depression would likely have formed via collapse as material is erupted from underneath. The strange hummocky texture of the mountain flanks may represent volcanic flows of some sort that have traveled down from the summit region and onto the plains beyond \u2013 but why they are hummocky, and what they are made of, we don\u2019t yet know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"pluto\"
\nScience journalist Alan Boyle<\/strong> is the author of “The Case for Pluto: How a Little Planet Made A Big Difference.”<\/p>\n

New Horizons\u2019 scientists had already determined that Pluto was exhibiting geological activity, based on the uplift of ice mountains as well as the flowing patterns of frozen nitrogen glaciers in crater-free Sputnik Planum. And before the flyby, scientists speculated that they might see places where slush or ice pushed its way through the surface. Such ice could consist of frozen water, nitrogen, ammonia or methane.<\/p>\n

On some worlds, such as the Jovian moon Io, volcanic activity arises due to tidal flexing. But the mechanism at work on Pluto is thought to be something different \u2013 for example, the heat generated by radioactive decay of minerals within the dwarf planet\u2019s rocky core.<\/p>\n

Scientists said the findings could change their perspective on planetary evolution at the solar system\u2019s edge. \u201cAfter all, nothing like this has been seen in the deep outer solar system,\u201d Ames Research Center\u2019s Jeffrey Moore, the leader of New Horizons\u2019 geology team, said in NASA\u2019s news release.<\/p>\n

New Horizons still has to send back about 80 percent of the readings that it collected during the flyby, and some of those readings could provide further evidence of volcanism \u2013 or knock down the hypothesis. \u201cWhat would be nice is to see if we could get to the compositional data there,\u201d White said.<\/p>\n

Among Monday\u2019s other revelations:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • More detailed readings reveal that Pluto\u2019s atmosphere is colder and more compact than they previously thought. That will force them to change their models for the dwarf planet\u2019s loss of its thin but nitrogen-rich atmosphere.<\/li>\n
  • By counting craters on the surface, New Horizons\u2019 scientists have determined that some areas of Pluto are geologically recent and that others are ancient, but they also found that still other parts of the surface \u2013 for example, east Tombaugh Regio \u2013 have an intermediate age, in the range of 1 billion years.<\/li>\n
  • At least two of Pluto\u2019s moons, Kerberos and Hydra, show signs that they were formed through the merger of two separate objects. That suggests Pluto once had more moons than the five it has today, with some of those moons smashing together over the course of billions of years. The smaller moons don\u2019t keep the same face oriented toward Pluto, as is the case with Earth and its moon, but wobble chaotically in orbit.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n