Marilyn Thipthorpe
Alan Stern, the mission leader of the Pluto probe, New Horizons, at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Texas, has reported that liquids might have once existed on the surface of Pluto but now seeped between the subterranean levels. It is now believed after extensive studies that liquid nitrogen is still present in the ice pockets on Pluto. The discovery came from data collected by the New Horizons probe. The data suggests that Pluto’s climate and atmospheric pressure has changed drastically over time. The data points to evidence that at one point Pluto’s temperature was high enough to melt liquid nitrogen. The surface of the planet is smooth enough to suggest that liquid has frozen over a considerable height. The team came to this conclusion after having cross referencing Pluto’s topographical map with a model of its climatic zones. Compared to Earths climatic zones which depend on its 23 degree axis, Pluto has a 120 degree tilt, which makes most of Pluto tropical, contrary to popular belief. It’s quite chilly but only in patches. On Earth, the arctic zones are in small zones at the poles which have prolonged periods of light and darkness. On Pluto however, the arctic zones extend much lower and merge into the tropics, so it’s like hot in one place and cold in the other.