Quantcast
ZME Science
  • CoronavirusNEW
  • News
  • Environment
    • Climate
    • Animals
    • Renewable Energy
    • Eco tips
    • Environmental Issues
    • Green Living
  • Health
    • Alternative Medicine
    • Anatomy
    • Diseases
    • Genetics
    • Mind & Brain
    • Nutrition
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
    • Feature Post
    • Art
    • Great Pics
    • Design
    • Fossil Friday
    • AstroPicture
    • GeoPicture
    • Did you know?
    • Offbeat
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
Home Science News

New NASA image shows first cloud on Pluto

Pluto really is crazy!

Dragos Mitrica by Dragos Mitrica
June 6, 2016
in News, Space

A spectacular new image from the New Horizons image highlights what could very well be the first cloud on the dwarf planet.

Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

The New Horizons space probe was launched back in 2006, and in late 2014, neared Pluto and snapped a trove of spectacular images of the former planet. However, because the probe can only send information at a rate of 38 kbps, it takes a very long time to receive all the information. New Horizons is sending back millions of photos and a new such intriguing photo was recently published by NASA.

It shows Pluto from a distance of about 13,400 miles, details the dark and rugged mountains as well as an area called “Pluto’s twilight zone.”

“The topography here appears quite rugged, and broad valleys and sharp peaks with relief totaling 3 miles (5 kilometers) are apparent,” NASA officials wrote.

But more intriguingly, the picture depicts something which looks like a cloud, shining through Pluto’s complicated layers of haze. If it really is a cloud, then it may very well be the only one ever spotted on the dwarf planet.

At the moment, we don’t know for sure if it is a cloud, and we probably won’t know for sure anytime soon. But if it looks like a cloud, and it can be a cloud… then it’s probably a cloud.

Get more science news like this...

Join the ZME newsletter for amazing science news, features, and exclusive scoops. More than 40,000 subscribers can't be wrong.

   

“Atmospheric models suggest that methane clouds can occasionally form in Pluto’s atmosphere,” said NASA in the same statement.

As for the rest of the picture, it’s quite useful itself, as NASA writes:

“These silhouetted terrains therefore act as a useful “anchor point,” giving New Horizons scientists a rare, detailed glimpse at the lay of the land in this mysterious part of Pluto seen at high resolution only in twilight. The scene in this inset is 460 miles (750 kilometers) wide.”

We’re only recently starting to learn just how complex and full of surprises Pluto really is. Other findings announced by NASA include:

  • Like Earth, Pluto has a long ion tail, that extends downwind at least a distance of about 100 Pluto radii (73,800 miles/118,700 kilometers, almost three times the circumference of Earth), loaded with heavy ions from the atmosphere and with “considerable structure.”
  • Pluto is geologically active.
  • Pluto’s obstruction of the solar wind upwind of the planet is smaller than had been thought. The solar wind isn’t blocked until about the distance of a couple planetary radii (1,844 miles/3,000 kilometers, about the distance between Chicago and Los Angeles.)
  • Pluto has a very thin boundary of Pluto’s tail of heavy ions and the sheath of the shocked solar wind that presents an obstacle to its flow.

Tags: Cloudmethanepluto
Dragos Mitrica

Dragos Mitrica

Dragos has been working in geology for six years, and loving every minute of it. Now, his more recent focus is on paleoclimate and climatic evolution, though in his spare time, he also dedicates a lot of time to chaos theory and complex systems.

Follow ZME on social media

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Coronavirus
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
  • More

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Coronavirus
  • News
  • Environment
    • Climate
    • Animals
    • Renewable Energy
    • Eco tips
    • Environmental Issues
    • Green Living
  • Health
    • Alternative Medicine
    • Anatomy
    • Diseases
    • Genetics
    • Mind & Brain
    • Nutrition
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
    • Feature Post
    • Art
    • Great Pics
    • Design
    • Fossil Friday
    • AstroPicture
    • GeoPicture
    • Did you know?
    • Offbeat
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.