Ice Detected on Surface Of Pluto

Last Update: October 12, 2015 at 11:49 am

Ice Detected on Surface Of Pluto

SOURCE: Digital Trends

After teasing an “amazing” announcement yesterday, NASA officially declared today that the New Horizons probe has detected trace amounts of exposed water ice on the surface of Pluto during its recent flyby. By using its onboard Ralph spectral composition mapper, New Horizons compiled enough data for researchers to affirm the existence of outcrops along the planet’s surface. Not content with stopping there, the space agency also released a series of color images snapped by the probe which beautifully capture Pluto’s blue atmospheric hazes. Considering these findings, when is it okay to start calling Pluto a planet again?

Just this past July, NASA’s New Horizons probe accomplished a nearly 10-year mission to reach (and pass) the dwarf planet Pluto. In the months since its passing, NASA has released a steady stream of information pertaining to Pluto though Thursday’s announcement arguably bears the most fruit. Though there aren’t giant areas of the planet which exhibit patches of the water ice New Horizons detected, the discovery still represents one of the most significant findings in our solar system

FULL STORY:  http://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/nasa-announces-new-horizons-detected-water-on-pluto/