Have Scientists Finally Uncovered Life on Pluto?

For life to exist anywhere, one thing that is almost always needed is water, and apart from on Earth, this substance that we take for granted, is not so plentiful in other parts of the solar system.  That is not to say that it does not exist elsewhere, as has been proved previously with the discovery of oceans underneath the surface on some of both Jupiter and Saturn’s moons.  And now, scientists have discovered what they believe to be an ocean underneath Pluto’s subsurface.

Previously scientists were led to believe that although there was an ocean underneath the surface of Pluto, they were always under the impression that it was frozen.  But, the new research obtained by the New Horizons spacecraft in 2015 suggests that it is liquid or partially liquid today.   Using their special technology and the data captured from the craft, the team were able to observe more closely Pluto’s tectonic features while updating their thermal evolution model with the new information.  Conclusions were made that if Pluto’s ocean had frozen in its entirety, then it wouldn’t have expanded as it has.

During their studies, the New Horizon spacecraft uncovered more about Pluto than we ever knew previously.  They discovered tall mountains of ice, long, deep faults, and vast plains and glaciers composed of nitrogen and methane.  Another possible discovery that is still being looked into is the existence of cryovolcanoes, which erupt ice opposed to lava.

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Another thing that made the researchers believe the water is not frozen on Pluto is that they did not see anything on the surface to suggest this.  Because of the very low temperatures of Pluto, there would have been a type of ice formed that has been named ice II, but there is no evidence of this anywhere, concluding that the ocean had not completely frozen.

More research is needed to give an accurate answer to the question – “Is there life on Pluto?”, But with the recent discoveries made, it’s certainly leading us to that indication.  Especially with the recent evidence uncovered in Europa’s and Enceladus’ oceans suggesting that there is life on other planets (or moons). But, it is still early days, and Pluto is much farther away than Jupiter so it will take a time to get to the bottom of it.

The next mission for the New Horizon spacecraft is still within the Kuiper Belt, but is much smaller than Pluto and is an object scientist have named 2014 MU69.  The spacecraft will pass it much closely than it was able to get from Pluto, so maybe more will be discovered here that will give clues to finding other life forms.  This way of space exploration will certainly continue for years to come as there is still so much out there to be discovered.

Story source; AmericaSpace.com

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