United States – An international team of astrophysicists has made major progress in understanding the heart-shaped feature on Pluto’s surface, known informally as the “Tombo Reggio.”
NASA’s New Horizons probe photographed this icy feature in 2015, and scientists are trying to decipher how this unique structure formed.
After years of intense research, an international team of astrophysicists has revealed the most likely explanation behind its mysterious formation: an ancient collision.
In Pluto’s early years, an object about 400 miles (nearly 700 km) across struck it at an unusual angle, creating this surface feature.
The study was conducted by the University of Bern and members of the National Center for Research Competence (NCCR) PlanetS, including the University of Arizona in Tucson.
The unique geological formation consists of two parts: the bright, heart-shaped “Sputnik Planitia” and the dark surrounding “Cthulhu Makola”.
“Sputnik Planitia” represents a frozen plain covering an area of 1,000 km, and is located in the western part of “Tombo Reggio”.
This huge area is equivalent to a quarter of the area of Europe or the United States.
To recreate this strange heart-shaped feature, the researchers used computer simulations using the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) software. They discovered a series of simulations that produced a close match, showing that the surface feature resulted from “the effect of a giant, slow oblique angle.”
“The elongated shape of Sputnik Planitia strongly indicates that the collision was not a direct collision, but rather an oblique collision,” said Martin Goetze from the University of Bern.
Research indicates that the region was affected by its collision with a planetary body with a diameter of about 700 km during the first years of Pluto.
According to the press release, the size of this planetary body was “nearly twice the size of Switzerland from east to west.” “Sputnik Planitia’s bright appearance is due to it being mostly filled with white nitrogen ice that is moving and transferring convection to constantly smooth the surface.”
Harry Ballantyne, lead author from the University of Bern, explained that this nitrogen likely accumulated quickly after the impact due to the low altitude.
The new simulations have provided new insights into Pluto’s internal structure, contradicting previous ideas. Furthermore, the research indicates that Pluto does not have a subsurface ocean, contrary to previous assumptions.
According to previous scientific theories, Pluto, like other planetary bodies in the outer solar system, may contain a liquid water ocean beneath its surface.
The heart feature’s unusual location near the planet’s equator has led scientists to speculate that it may be due to liquid water beneath the region.
The new research suggests that a liquid ocean is not necessary to explain the position of Pluto’s core, Goetzi said in a press release.
However, scientists suggest an alternative explanation: “In our simulations, Pluto’s primitive mantle has been completely excavated by the impact, and as the core material of the impacting body is scattered over Pluto’s core, it creates a local excess that could explain the migration toward the equator with no ocean underneath.” The surface, or often a very thin perimeter.”
The results were published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
Source: Interesting Engineering
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2024-04-22 14:32:43