An international team of astrophysicists has made significant progress in understanding a heart-shaped feature on the surface of Pluto, known informally as the “Tombo Reggio.”
NASA’s New Horizons probe, according to Nature Astronomy, photographed this icy feature in 2015, and scientists are trying to figure out how this unique structure was formed.
After years of intensive research, an international team of astronomers has revealed the most likely explanation behind its mysterious creation: an ancient accident.
In Pluto’s early years, an object about 400 miles (nearly 700 kilometers) 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 field covering an area of 1,000 km, and is located in the west of “Tombo Reggio”.
This huge area is equal to a quarter of the area of Europe or the United States.
“The elongated shape of Sputnik Planitia strongly suggests that the collision was not a direct collision, but an oblique collision,” said Martin Goetze from the University of Bern.
Research shows that the collision affected the area with a planet group with a diameter of about 700 km in the first years of Pluto.
The research team attributed the clear appearance of Sputnik Planitia to the fact that it is mostly filled with white nitrogen ice that moves and spreads convection to constantly smooth the surface on its side Harry Ballantyne, principal author of the University of Bern it seems that this nitrogen accumulated quickly after the accident due to the low altitude.
The new simulations have provided new insights into Pluto’s internal structure, contradicting previous ideas. In addition, the research shows that there is no subsurface ocean in Pluto, contrary to previous assumptions.
According to previous scientific theories, Pluto, like other planetary bodies in the outer solar system, may have an ocean of liquid water beneath its surface.
The unusual location of the core feature 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 molten ocean is not needed to explain the location of Pluto’s core, Goetzi said.
However, scientists suggest another explanation: “In our simulations, Pluto’s primitive mantle was completely eroded by the impact, and as the core material of the impact body is scattered over Pluto’s core, it creates too local which could explain the migration towards it. the equator without an ocean beneath it.” The surface, or often a thin edge.”
