The Secrets of the Universe | What NASA Saw At Pluto | COSMOS in a minute #19 @TheSecretsoftheUniverse | Uploaded May 2023 | Updated October 2024, 4 days ago.
NASA was stunned when the New Horizons Spacecraft returned its first close-up images of Pluto. Previously thought to be a simple icy rock, Pluto turned out to be a surprisingly complex and active world. The spacecraft captured images of vast plains of nitrogen ice, towering mountains of water-ice, and a sky tinged blue by tholin particles in its thin atmosphere. However, the biggest surprise was the heart-shaped feature, later named Tombaugh Regio, which showed signs of geologically recent activity, defying expectations for such a small, cold world so far from the Sun. New Horizons also spotted evidence of possible dune fields, suggesting the existence of weather, winds, and signs of an underground ocean of liquid water. The mission fundamentally reshaped our understanding of Pluto and other Kuiper Belt Objects, proving that even the most remote corners of our system hold surprising complexity.
For more videos of cosmos in a minute, follow The Secrets of the Universe.
NASA was stunned when the New Horizons Spacecraft returned its first close-up images of Pluto. Previously thought to be a simple icy rock, Pluto turned out to be a surprisingly complex and active world. The spacecraft captured images of vast plains of nitrogen ice, towering mountains of water-ice, and a sky tinged blue by tholin particles in its thin atmosphere. However, the biggest surprise was the heart-shaped feature, later named Tombaugh Regio, which showed signs of geologically recent activity, defying expectations for such a small, cold world so far from the Sun. New Horizons also spotted evidence of possible dune fields, suggesting the existence of weather, winds, and signs of an underground ocean of liquid water. The mission fundamentally reshaped our understanding of Pluto and other Kuiper Belt Objects, proving that even the most remote corners of our system hold surprising complexity.
For more videos of cosmos in a minute, follow The Secrets of the Universe.
