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| Science & Technology |
| Pluto has blue sky, water ice: Nasa |
| 2015-10-09 |
| [NATION.PK] Nasa has unveiled the first colour pictures of the haze that surrounds Pluto, along with pictures of patches of water ice on the dwarf planet. The reveal drew early attention this week as the leader of the New Horizons mission said there would be an "amazing" announcement. Alan Stern described the planet as "alive" -- prompting many to hope for a big announcement today. The colour pictures show for the first time that the hazes are a bright blue. "Who would have expected a blue sky in the Kuiper Belt? It's gorgeous," said Alan Stern New Horizons principal investigator from Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), Boulder, Colorado, in a statement. The blue in the picture allows scientists to judge how exactly it is made. "That striking blue tint tells us about the size and composition of the haze particles," said science team researcher Carly Howett, also of SwRI. "A 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 -- but still relatively small -- soot-like particles we call tholins." Nasa also said that it had found small, exposed regions of ice on the dwarf planet. Those bits of ice correlate with previously seen red patches on the surface -- and scientists aren't sure why. "I'm surprised that this water ice is so red," says Silvia Protopapa, a science team member from the University of Maryland, College Park. "We don't yet understand the relationship between water ice and the reddish tholin colorants on Pluto's surface." The water only appears in patches. Scientists are planning to explore why exactly those patches form, and why they appear where they do. "Large expanses of Pluto don't show exposed water ice," said science team member Jason Cook, of SwRI, "because it's apparently masked by other, more volatile ices across most of the planet. Understanding why water appears exactly where it does, and not in other places, is a challenge that we are digging into." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #8 Make it the most holy place of a certain cult |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2015-10-09 17:53 |
| #7 I guess Pluto isn't such a Mickey Mouse planet after all. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2015-10-09 12:00 |
| #6 we call tholins Didn't Captain Kirk deal with them and their web in the TV show? |
| Posted by: Bobby 2015-10-09 08:14 |
| #5 I remember some SF story from the 50es, what had skiing tours on Pluto. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2015-10-09 05:13 |
| #4 "I'm surprised that this water ice is so red," It's definitely Animas River overflow - paging Gina McCarthy! |
| Posted by: Raj 2015-10-09 01:18 |
| #3 Fine! Lets ship all the EPA officials to monitor the wetlands of Pluto! |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2015-10-09 01:04 |
| #2 Wetlands! Pluto has wetlands! This is a great day for the Federal bureaucracy, gentlemen. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2015-10-09 00:38 |
| #1 Throw a few fire pits out and some throw on some parkas and it is a regular party place! |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2015-10-09 00:36 |