Scientist has discovered something interesting about Pluto: It has a lot of frozen water than was originally thought.
According to a data previously captured by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, the dwarf planet has a lot of ice. However, a new map has shown that the planet is indeed coated with a large amount of ice.
The new method involved the stitching of two infrared imaged already captured by New Horizons' Ralph/Linear Etalon Imaging Spectral Array (LEISA) instrument. These images were capture at a distance of about 67,000 miles and allowed the scientists "to mute ice signatures created by other elements, such as methane and nitrogen, and heighten the signature for water ice."
Through this method, they have come up with the conclusion that a lot of frozen water is indeed blanketing little Pluto's surface. This, according to NASA, is a very vital discovery.
This means that it has met one of criteria for NASA's search for a habitable planet. NASA scientists now believe that water ice is Pluto's bedrock. "Finding water on another world is important. It is considered one of the key ingredients to life as we know it. However, oxygen and hydrogen, the elements in water, are abundant in the universe. "
The planet has been giving the NASA scientists a lot surprises since the New Horizons fly by in last July 2015. One of these marvellous discoveries include the mysterious moons and now the icy surface, frozen waters.
The most surprising water worlds discovered so far include the five icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn. These moons exhibit a strong evidence of oceans beneath their surfaces. These moons are Ganymede, Europa and Callisto at Jupiter, and Enceladus and Titan at Saturn.
The New Horizons is now on a new mission. It is chasing down 2014 MU69, a small object lying in Kuiper Belt.
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