Pluto has been discovered to possess an unusual polygonal terrain by NASA's New Horizons mission to the planet's system. The planet is covered with large deposits of nitrogen ice in the form of polygons that are thin from the edges and thick from the middle.
NASA's New Horizons probe took almost 10 years to reach the former ninth planet of the solar system, Pluto. When the researchers finally looked at the surface of the dwarf planet, they were left surprised as the reality turned out to be majorly different from what was initially expected.
NASA has released to the public stunning pictures of Pluto captured by the New Horizons spaceprobe intended to observe the ex-ninth planet and its surrounding moons. The space mission’s foray into the fringes of the solar system also hopes to study the Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) that may help explain the origins of the solar system.
The New Horizons space mission has recently stumbled upon interesting discoveries beyond Pluto along the fringes of the solar system, the so-called Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs). After discovering the KBO named 1994 JR1, the scientists are setting their sights to another one called 2014 MU69 which would help explain the cosmic origins of our sun-centered planetary system.
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft made a Pluto flyby in July 2015. Since then, the spacecraft has been sending a number of incredible images and data back to Earth. The ground breaking data is being analyzed by the team on Earth continuously to reveal key Plutonian details.
After the success of Pluto exploration, New Horizons is planning to explore the new strange new world of 2014 MU69. The mission would be conducted as soon as NASA gives a go ahead.
A formal approval is pending before New Horizons can be turned towards MU 69 in outer fringers of the solar system.
New Horizons found two layers of haze and also detected flowing ice on Pluto's surface.
The spacecraft has spent 21 hours collecting data, mostly about Pluto. Communications with Earth were temporarily suspended during data collection.
The pentaquark is composed of four quarks and an anti-quark, which was theorized when quarks were discovered in 1960s. They have remained elusive until Tuesday.
The spacecraft went incommunicado on Saturday, just about a week before its July 14 Pluto flyby.
Data from Hubble Space Telescope has revealed that Pluto's moons move erratically due to combined gravitational field of Pluto and Charon.
Two Pluto's smallest moons, Kerberos and Styx, are not easily visible given their smaller size and faintness.
New Horizons spacecraft which is 2.9 billion miles away from Earth is now all set to capture images of Pluto to enhance its understanding.
09 Aug '24 16:35PM
