Scientists have found evidence of ice volcanoes on the ill-fated dwarf planet Pluto.
US IT media CNet reported on the 29th (local time) that a joint research team led by Southwest Research Institute planetary scientist Calcie Singer has found evidence of an ice volcano on Pluto.
Researchers analyzed images of Pluto taken by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft in 2015 and found that cryogenic volcanic activity exists there. This study was recently published in the international academic journal ‘Nature Communications’.
Pluto was previously classified as the ninth planet in the solar system. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) strengthened the definition of a planet and demoted it to a dwarf planet, so it is called a ‘dwarf planet of bad luck’. Pluto’s temperature drops to minus 228-238 degrees Celsius, and the atmosphere is mostly nitrogen, but carbon dioxide and methane are also known to exist.
“At Pluto’s giant mountain, Wright Mons, there was a cryogenic volcano suspected of being the size of the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii, USA,” NASA said. “he said.
The researchers released a perspective view of an icy volcanic region. Some of the ice volcanoes captured on Pluto are known to be as high as 7 km. Pluto’s ice volcanoes have been found in areas with few impact craters, suggesting a relatively recent activity.
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For an ice volcano to work, it must have a heat source. “This suggests that Pluto’s internal structure may hold more heat than expected, or allow it to retain heat,” the researchers explain. Hot internal heat and cold surface temperatures are known to have created ice volcanoes.
Ice volcanoes are volcanoes that eject icy water, nitrogen and ammonia. Scientists have observed evidence of cryogenic volcanic activity in the dwarf planet Ceres between Mars and Jupiter and Saturn’s moon Titan even within the solar system.
