Placeholder canvas

Pluto ‘paints’ its largest moon red: NASA

Date:

The reddish polar region on Pluto‘s giant moon, Charon, is an impact of methane gas escaping from the icy dwarf planet’s atmosphere, described by the scientists who unraveled the enigma behind the coloured area first spotted by NASA‘s New Horizons spacecraft last year.

Methane gas outflows from Pluto’s atmosphere becomes “trapped” by the moon‘s gravity and pierces to the cold, icy surface at Charon’s pole, researchers stated.

This is accompanied by chemical processing by ultraviolet rays from the Sun that converts the methane into heavier hydrocarbons and finally into reddish organic elements called tholins, they said.

“Who would have thought that Pluto is a graffiti artist, spray-painting its companion with a reddish stain that covers an area the size of New Mexico?” said Will Grundy, a New Horizons co-investigator from Lowell Observatory in the US.

“Nature is amazingly inventive in using the basic laws of physics and chemistry to create spectacular landscapes,” Grundy added.

The team joined reviews from detailed Charon pictures obtained by New Horizons with computer models of how ice evolves on Charon’s poles.

Mission scientists had earlier speculated that methane from Pluto’s atmosphere was trapped in Charon’s north pole and gradually converted into the reddish element, but had no photographs to verify that theory.

Researchers dug into the data to discover whether conditions on the moon (with a diameter of 1,212 kilometers) could support the acquisition and processing of methane gas.

The illustrations using Pluto and Charon’s 248-year orbit around the Sun displays some extreme weather conditions at Charon’s poles, where 100 years of constant sunlight alternate with another century of constant darkness.

ALSO READ: Priyanka Chopra among world’s highest paid TV actresses

Surface temperatures throughout these long winters dip to – 257 degrees Celsius, cold enough to freeze methane gas into a solid.

“The methane molecules bounce around on Charon’s surface until they either escape back into space or land on the cold pole, where they freeze solid, forming a thin coating of methane ice that lasts until sunlight comes back in the spring,” Grundy said.

But although the methane ice quickly sublimates away, the complex hydrocarbons generated from it remain on the surface.

ALSO READ: Infosys facing leadership challenges?

The models also proposed that in Charon’s springtime, the returning sunlight triggers the conversion of the frozen methane back into gas.

Sunlight moreover irradiates those leftovers into the reddish coloured substance called tholins that have slowly expanded on Charon’s poles over millions of years.

Fresh Horizons’ perceptions of Charon’s other pole, currently in winter darkness and recognized by New Horizons only by light reflecting from Pluto, or “Pluto-shine” – validated that the equivalent action was happening at both the pol

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Share post:

Subscribe

Popular

More like this
Related

Biden Administration Approves $60Million Aid For Baltimore Bridge Collapse

The Federal Administration in a statement on Thursday said that it has provided the quick-release funds to rebuild the collapsed bridge within hours of receiving a request from Maryland Department Of Transportation

Fact Check: Lok Sabha Polls Will Be Held Using EVMs; Don’t Fall For False Claim

Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, a newspaper cutout...

Four Killed, Five Wounded In Stabbing Incident In North Illinois

Redd mentioned that not all of the victims had stab wounds and none of them were shot. She added by saying that they have a suspect in custody

Hope Everyone’s Rights Are Protected: UN On Kejriwal’s Arrest

Delhi CM Kejriwal was arrested by the ED(Enforcement Directorate) on March 21 in the Delhi liquor policy case, days ahead of the Lok Sabha polls