New Horizons data analysis finds evidence of liquid nitrogen on Pluto

WASHINGTON, United States — WASHINGTON — U.S. researchers have identified new evidence of liquid nitrogen in Pluto's Sputnik Planitia, a vast basin on the western lobe of the dwarf planet's heart-shaped ice sheet, after reanalyzing data from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, which flew past Pluto in 2015. The study, published in The Planetary Science Journal, points to geological activity in the region within the past million years. Alan Stern, the principal investigator of the New Horizons mission, said the findings indicate that processes on Pluto are far more recent than previously thought. Because Pluto's thin atmosphere cannot allow liquid nitrogen to rain onto the surface, the researchers proposed that the liquid accumulates beneath the ice sheet and reaches the surface through narrow channels. According to their hypothesis, the liquid nitrogen remains active long enough to form the dark, striped patterns visible on the surface today. Kelsey Singer of the Southwest Research Institute said the formations on Pluto are unlike anything else observed in the solar system. The researchers emphasized that further observations are needed to confirm the findings but said the results compel a reassessment of Pluto's geology.