Dwarf Planet Pluto
- All
- News
-
White Dwarf Gobbles Up Nitrogen-Rich Ices of Pluto-Like World
Astronomers have observed a white dwarf, a highly compact stellar ember, that appears to have gobbled up an icy world akin to dwarf planet Pluto, a finding with implications regarding the likelihood of habitable planets beyond our solar system
-
NASA Data Shows Pluto’s Equator Is Lined with Towering Methane Ice Spires
New research based on New Horizons’ decade-old data has uncovered extensive bladed terrain made of methane ice on Pluto. These towering spires, arranged in spaced-out, parallel rows, are likely shaped by seasonal condensation and sublimation cycles. While the terrain spans over half the planet’s midsection, five times the width of continental U...
-
JWST Reveals Pluto’s Haze Cools Atmosphere, Paints Charon’s Poles Red
Pluto's thin haze of organic particles, confirmed by JWST’s mid-infrared observations, plays a crucial role in both cooling its mesosphere and launching methane into space. This methane escapes Pluto’s gravity, landing on Charon’s poles where radiation transforms it into reddish tholins. The study highlights how Pluto’s haze shapes not only...
-
New Dwarf Planet Discovered Beyond Pluto, Hinting At Hidden 'Planet X'
The discovery of 2017 OF201 is significant, as it challenges the hypothesis of Planet Nine, a hypothetical planet thought to exist in the outer Solar System.
-
"Planetary Besties": NASA Shares Pic Of Pluto's Largest Moon Charon
In its recent post, US space agency NASA shared a picture of planetary besties Charon and Pluto, the two dwarf planet systems.
-
Supervolcano Discovered On Pluto, Could Be Evidence Of Subsurface Ocean
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has captured images of Pluto, revealing a 44-kilometer-wide crater that displays indications of recent volcanic activity.
-
NASA Shares Stunning Image Of Pluto That Shows Its ''True Colours''
Pluto was once considered the ninth planet in the solar system, however, it was demoted in 2006 and reclassified as a dwarf planet.
-
Pluto's Orbit Is Highly Chaotic, Radically Different From Other Planets: Study
Since Pluto - the dwarf planet - was discovered in 1930, it has generated considerable interest among astronomers, primarily over its highly eccentric and inclined orbit.
-
Pluto's Icy Heart Regulates Its Atmospheric Circulation: Study
Pluto's heart-shaped structure, named Tombaugh Regio, quickly became famous after NASA's New Horizons mission captured footage of the dwarf planet in 2015 and revealed it is not the barren world scientists thought it was.
-
Farout Discovered, a Pink Dwarf Planet That's the Most Distant Object in the Solar System
Scientists have discovered the most distant object known in our solar system, so remote and unusual they chose the nickname "Farout".
-
New Distant Object With Orbit Found During Hunt For Planet X
In their search for unknown dwarf planets and Planet X and for distant Solar System objects, a team of scientists have discovered a new extremely distant object far beyond Pluto with an orbit.
-
'Surprising' Methane Dunes Found on Pluto
Pluto is covered with surprising dunes made of methane ice, which have formed relatively recently despite the frigid dwarf planet's very thin atmosphere, international researchers said Thursday.
-
Pluto Has Windswept Dunes Even Though It Shouldn't Have Enough Wind To Sweep
By Earth's standards, you could hardly imagine a stranger world than frigid, tiny Pluto. It resides in the far corner of the solar system at an average of about 4 billion miles from the sun. NASA's New Horizons probe, which flew within 7,800 miles of the dwarf planet in July 2015, gave us the best look at Pluto yet. There, temperatures plunge to mi...
-
Pluto's True Nature - Heart-Shaped Icecap, Spits Out X-Rays And More
When the New Horizons spacecraft arrived at Pluto in 2015, the probe revealed the dwarf planet's true nature: Pluto is a frozen lump, sure, but it is an odd and interesting lump. Pluto has a heart-shaped icecap that, in theory, could hide an ocean. For no obvious reason, Pluto spits out X-rays. And when New Horizons took Pluto's temperature, the dw...
-
2016, A Year That Unlocked Mysteries Of Our Solar System
From Mercury, the planet closest to the Sun, to the icy dwarf Pluto, scientists this year explored far reaches of our solar system, travelling unprecedented distances to make new discoveries and solve many mysteries of the vast space surrounding the Earth.
-
White Dwarf Gobbles Up Nitrogen-Rich Ices of Pluto-Like World
Astronomers have observed a white dwarf, a highly compact stellar ember, that appears to have gobbled up an icy world akin to dwarf planet Pluto, a finding with implications regarding the likelihood of habitable planets beyond our solar system
-
NASA Data Shows Pluto’s Equator Is Lined with Towering Methane Ice Spires
New research based on New Horizons’ decade-old data has uncovered extensive bladed terrain made of methane ice on Pluto. These towering spires, arranged in spaced-out, parallel rows, are likely shaped by seasonal condensation and sublimation cycles. While the terrain spans over half the planet’s midsection, five times the width of continental U...
-
JWST Reveals Pluto’s Haze Cools Atmosphere, Paints Charon’s Poles Red
Pluto's thin haze of organic particles, confirmed by JWST’s mid-infrared observations, plays a crucial role in both cooling its mesosphere and launching methane into space. This methane escapes Pluto’s gravity, landing on Charon’s poles where radiation transforms it into reddish tholins. The study highlights how Pluto’s haze shapes not only...
-
New Dwarf Planet Discovered Beyond Pluto, Hinting At Hidden 'Planet X'
The discovery of 2017 OF201 is significant, as it challenges the hypothesis of Planet Nine, a hypothetical planet thought to exist in the outer Solar System.
-
"Planetary Besties": NASA Shares Pic Of Pluto's Largest Moon Charon
In its recent post, US space agency NASA shared a picture of planetary besties Charon and Pluto, the two dwarf planet systems.
-
Supervolcano Discovered On Pluto, Could Be Evidence Of Subsurface Ocean
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has captured images of Pluto, revealing a 44-kilometer-wide crater that displays indications of recent volcanic activity.
-
NASA Shares Stunning Image Of Pluto That Shows Its ''True Colours''
Pluto was once considered the ninth planet in the solar system, however, it was demoted in 2006 and reclassified as a dwarf planet.
-
Pluto's Orbit Is Highly Chaotic, Radically Different From Other Planets: Study
Since Pluto - the dwarf planet - was discovered in 1930, it has generated considerable interest among astronomers, primarily over its highly eccentric and inclined orbit.
-
Pluto's Icy Heart Regulates Its Atmospheric Circulation: Study
Pluto's heart-shaped structure, named Tombaugh Regio, quickly became famous after NASA's New Horizons mission captured footage of the dwarf planet in 2015 and revealed it is not the barren world scientists thought it was.
-
Farout Discovered, a Pink Dwarf Planet That's the Most Distant Object in the Solar System
Scientists have discovered the most distant object known in our solar system, so remote and unusual they chose the nickname "Farout".
-
New Distant Object With Orbit Found During Hunt For Planet X
In their search for unknown dwarf planets and Planet X and for distant Solar System objects, a team of scientists have discovered a new extremely distant object far beyond Pluto with an orbit.
-
'Surprising' Methane Dunes Found on Pluto
Pluto is covered with surprising dunes made of methane ice, which have formed relatively recently despite the frigid dwarf planet's very thin atmosphere, international researchers said Thursday.
-
Pluto Has Windswept Dunes Even Though It Shouldn't Have Enough Wind To Sweep
By Earth's standards, you could hardly imagine a stranger world than frigid, tiny Pluto. It resides in the far corner of the solar system at an average of about 4 billion miles from the sun. NASA's New Horizons probe, which flew within 7,800 miles of the dwarf planet in July 2015, gave us the best look at Pluto yet. There, temperatures plunge to mi...
-
Pluto's True Nature - Heart-Shaped Icecap, Spits Out X-Rays And More
When the New Horizons spacecraft arrived at Pluto in 2015, the probe revealed the dwarf planet's true nature: Pluto is a frozen lump, sure, but it is an odd and interesting lump. Pluto has a heart-shaped icecap that, in theory, could hide an ocean. For no obvious reason, Pluto spits out X-rays. And when New Horizons took Pluto's temperature, the dw...
-
2016, A Year That Unlocked Mysteries Of Our Solar System
From Mercury, the planet closest to the Sun, to the icy dwarf Pluto, scientists this year explored far reaches of our solar system, travelling unprecedented distances to make new discoveries and solve many mysteries of the vast space surrounding the Earth.
