Pluto is a planet that still has many mysteries waiting to be discovered, as confirmed by a new study carried out with data obtained by the New Horizons mission. With this, scientists go beyond what we knew with a discovery that has surprised the community of astronomers in a remarkable way. After all, it seems that Pluto was hiding a secret.
As you probably already know, Pluto’s surface is frozen. It is located at a temperature of -220º C and everything indicates that below it there is an ocean that could, however, be radically different from those on our planet. On what basis do scientists reach this type of conclusion?
Discovering more about Pluto
One of the main theories pointing to this internal ocean beneath the ice sheet is the fractures in the surface that have appeared over time. According to scientists, what would be happening is that the water underneath is freezing, since we must not forget that water, when it freezes, expands.
Another idea that scientists are presenting is that the planet has cryovolcanoes that expel frozen water or water vapor. Based on this, they think that, if any of these phenomena are occurring, it must be because there is water somewhere on Pluto. The ocean beneath the ice would fit this theory perfectly.
Experiment confirms ocean density
A joint work carried out between experts from the Lunar & Planetary Institute in Houston and Washington University in St. Louis, wanted to test this theory and obtain a model that can replicate the characteristics that this supposed ocean would have. To do this, they have taken the Sputnik Planitia area as a reference, which has a characteristic heart shape, and have tested different densities to fit with the analyzes and results obtained by the New Horizons mission. The result they have reached is attractive and challenging in equal measure.
They say that the density of the water under Pluto would be 8% higher than that of the Earth and that its thickness would be between 40 and 80 kilometers. With these data they would be extending the idea of a version of Pluto very different from the one we knew in the past and that could hide many secrets in that supposed ocean that would be below the surface. Who knows, really, what there is beyond the little that, for the moment, we have been able to discover about Pluto.
However, other scientists contradict the results just presented and argue that it is unlikely that the planet’s interior is made up of an ocean or even a layer of water. They say that the latest discoveries are only circumstantial and do not provide tangible evidence that this ocean actually exists. They also argue that the heart-shaped shape of Sputnik Planitia is unlikely to have formed if it were not for the existence of a solid core beneath the ice.
But it is obvious that the idea of the interior ocean attracts attention and becomes one of the most attractive proposals we have ever read about Pluto. Or perhaps we are simply getting carried away by the similarity with our planet and with the relationship we have that a surface as solid as that ice, ends up being linked to an interior zone of liquid water.
The bad news is that the New Horizons mission already left Pluto a long time ago and, at the moment, there are no plans to send another to this planet. Therefore, scientists will have to continue making the most of the analyzes obtained or wait for the next exploration initiative of this dwarf planet.
