In the northern region of Pluto’s Sputnik Planum, swirl-shaped patterns of light and dark suggest that a surface layer of exotic ices has flowed around obstacles and into depressions, much like glaciers on Earth.
“With flowing ices, exotic surface chemistry, mountain ranges and vast haze, Pluto is showing a diversity of planetary geology that is truly thrilling,” said John Grunsfeld, NASA’s associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, in a statement.
The new images show fascinating details within the Texas-sized plain, informally named Sputnik Planum, which lies within the western half of Pluto’s heart-shaped feature, known as Tombaugh
Regio.
There, a sheet of ice clearly appears to have flowed -- and may still be flowing –in a manner similar to glaciers on Earth.
Additionally, new data indicates the centre of Sputnik Planum is rich in nitrogen, carbon monoxide and methane ices.
The Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) <g data-gr-id="29">on board</g> New Horizons also captured sunlight streaming through the atmosphere and revealing hazes as high as 130 <g data-gr-id="28">kms</g> above Pluto’s surface.
A preliminary analysis of the image shows two distinct layers of haze -- one about 80 <g data-gr-id="31">kms</g> above the surface and the other at an altitude of about 50 <g data-gr-id="32">kms</g>.
“The hazes detected in this image are a key element in creating the complex hydrocarbon compounds that give Pluto’s surface its reddish hue,” added Michael Summers, New Horizons co-investigator at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.
Models suggest the hazes form when ultraviolet sunlight breaks up methane gas particles –a simple hydrocarbon in Pluto’s atmosphere.