Pluto could harbour 'slushy underground ocean'
- 7 years ago
A frozen area of Pluto, known as the ‘heart’ may harbour a slushy ocean between 150 and 200 km beneath its surface, NASA scientists say.
This could explain why part of the region – Pluto’s most prominent feature – remains securely aligned with Charon, its largest moon.
Its believed the central area contains as much water as all of Earth’s seas.
The last bits of data from the #NewHorizons 2015 flyby have been delivered to Earth – https://t.co/sXc7OMB2Ur pic.twitter.com/CWdVSNaFsv— NASA New Horizons (@NASANewHorizons) October 27, 2016
The dwarf planet becomes the latest in a growing list of worlds in the solar system which are believed to have underground oceans. Scientists claim there could potentially be life residing in some of them.
This could explain why part of the region – Pluto’s most prominent feature – remains securely aligned with Charon, its largest moon.
Its believed the central area contains as much water as all of Earth’s seas.
The last bits of data from the #NewHorizons 2015 flyby have been delivered to Earth – https://t.co/sXc7OMB2Ur pic.twitter.com/CWdVSNaFsv— NASA New Horizons (@NASANewHorizons) October 27, 2016
The dwarf planet becomes the latest in a growing list of worlds in the solar system which are believed to have underground oceans. Scientists claim there could potentially be life residing in some of them.