Pluto's Famous Heart Feature Formed by Celestial Collision, Study Reveals
Pluto's heart, distinguished by its bright, nitrogen-ice covered surface, first captured public and scientific interest when NASA's New Horizons spacecraft sent back detailed images in 2015.
Scientists have finally cracked the origin of Pluto's famous heart-shaped feature, Tombaugh Regio, concluding it was formed by a slow-moving, glancing blow from a celestial object. This discovery provides a stark contrast to earlier theories that suggested internal geological processes might be responsible.
Pluto's heart, distinguished by its bright, nitrogen-ice covered surface, first captured public and scientific interest when NASA's New Horizons spacecraft sent back detailed images in 2015. The formation's unique appearance and composition sparked numerous hypotheses about its origins. However, this new study, using advanced numerical simulations and published in Nature Astronomy, proposes that the feature was created by a collision with an icy body approximately 700 km in diameter.
The research suggests that the impact occurred at an oblique angle, not directly head-on, which led to the heart's elongated shape. This impact theory is supported by the unusual composition and elevation of Sputnik Planitia, the western lobe of the heart, which lies several kilometers below the rest of Pluto's surface. This area is predominantly filled with nitrogen ice, believed to have settled there shortly after the impact due to its lower altitude.
The study also challenges the previously held assumption that Pluto may have a subsurface ocean. The simulations indicate that the impact was significant enough to excavate Pluto's mantle, creating a mass excess in the region which would allow Sputnik Planitia to maintain its position near the equator without the need for an underlying ocean.