New Horizons passed by Pluto in the summer, but continues to send photos and information to Earth. The first color images of the dwarf planet’s atmosphere reveals that the sky is blue.
– Who would have expected the blue sky in the Kuiper Belt? It is sumptuously said Alan Stern, chief scientist on the New Horizons project on NASA’s website.
The particles in the atmosphere is likely gray or red, but the way they scatter blue light has caught NASA scientists’ interest. The blue color gives clues to the composition of the particles.
– On Earth, these small particles are very small molecules of nitrogen. On Pluto, they seem to be larger sotliknande particles, said Carly Howett, one of the researchers on the project.
Scientists believe that the particles formed high in the atmosphere, where ultraviolet sunlight breaks apart and ionizes nitrogen and methane molecules. These react together to form more and more complex ions.
The most complex molecules continue to grow until they are small particles. Volatile gases condense and covers the surface of the particles of frost before they fall through the atmosphere of Pluto’s surface, where they contribute to the dwarf planet’s red color.
New Horizons also found several small areas of frozen water on Pluto. The discovery was made using the spectrometer Ralph on board the craft.
– In large areas of Pluto, we see no frozen water that apparently is hidden by other, more volatile forms of ice. To understand why there is water in which it does, but not elsewhere, is a challenge we take on, says Jason Cook at New Horizons project.
Something that puzzles researchers is that areas with frozen water is also red.
– It amazes me that water ice is so red. We do not yet understand the relationship between water ice and red paint particles on Pluto’s surface, says Silvia Protopapa, part of the New Horizons project.
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