Scientists Reveal How Pluto Got Its Heart Shape
- 8 years ago
Astronomers have identified the likely processes behind a large heart first seen on Pluto’s surface about a year ago.
Astronomers have identified the likely processes behind a large heart first seen on Pluto’s surface about a year ago.
Using computer simulations, two researchers from France have been able to replicate “the evolution of [nitrogen], methane and carbon monoxide on Pluto over thousands of years.”
As a report by Science magazine states, the team initially “gave Pluto a planet-wide veneer of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane ices a few millimeters thick.”
But to mimic the current surface of the planet, they added topographic details like Sputnik Planum where the heart is located.
The area is believed to have a massive nitrogen glacier on top and a deep basin underneath.
After cycling the modelled planet through its orbits, the researchers found that the glacier’s basin trapped many of the native gases due to condensation that occurs at the lowest elevation.
Based on the changes they observed, one of the authors, Tanguy Bertrand, told Gizmodo, in part, “The half heart glacier lying inside is a really massive glacier, which...probably formed when the basin formed, and will remain there in the future. However, it probably flows and retracts...with time, eroding and shaping the mountains surrounding it.”
Astronomers have identified the likely processes behind a large heart first seen on Pluto’s surface about a year ago.
Using computer simulations, two researchers from France have been able to replicate “the evolution of [nitrogen], methane and carbon monoxide on Pluto over thousands of years.”
As a report by Science magazine states, the team initially “gave Pluto a planet-wide veneer of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane ices a few millimeters thick.”
But to mimic the current surface of the planet, they added topographic details like Sputnik Planum where the heart is located.
The area is believed to have a massive nitrogen glacier on top and a deep basin underneath.
After cycling the modelled planet through its orbits, the researchers found that the glacier’s basin trapped many of the native gases due to condensation that occurs at the lowest elevation.
Based on the changes they observed, one of the authors, Tanguy Bertrand, told Gizmodo, in part, “The half heart glacier lying inside is a really massive glacier, which...probably formed when the basin formed, and will remain there in the future. However, it probably flows and retracts...with time, eroding and shaping the mountains surrounding it.”