Pluto Archives - Universe Today

Pluto has “Sand Dunes”, but Instead of Sand, it’s Grains of Frozen Methane

4 Jun , 2018 by Matt Williams

After reviewing data from the New Horizons mission, an international team of scientists determined that Pluto has dunes made of grains of methane

Pluto is What You Get When a Billion Comets Smash Together

29 May , 2018 by Matt Williams

A new study conducted by researchers from the Southwest Research Institute indicates that Pluto could have formed from a billion comets

Pluto’s Charon Gets Mountains Named After Sci-Fi Authors Octavia Butler and Arthur C. Clarke, as Well as Many Others From History and Legend. I Approve!

13 Apr , 2018 by Matt Williams

The IAU just approved of a dozen names for features on Pluto’s moon Charon, which include mountains named after Octavia Butler and Sir Arthur C. Clarke.

New Study Provides Explanation for Pluto’s Giant Blades of Ice

27 Sep , 2017 by Matt Williams

A new study by members of the New Horizons team has provided an explanation for Pluto’s mysteries “bladed terrain”.

Hey Map Collectors, Here’s a New Map of Pluto!

19 Jul , 2017 by Matt Williams

Using data from the New Horizons spacecraft, the mission team has created some new maps of Pluto and its largest moon, Charon.

Two Years Ago Today: It Was a Clear Day on Pluto When New Horizons Flew By

14 Jul , 2017 by Nancy Atkinson

It was two years ago this morning that we awoke to see the now iconic image of Pluto that the New Horizons spacecraft had sent to Earth during the night. You, of course, know the picture I’m talking about – the one with a clear view of the giant heart-shaped region on the distant, little […]

Did you Know There are X-rays Coming from Pluto? That’s Strange, What’s Causing it?

5 Jul , 2017 by Matt Williams

A new study by a team of astronomers has revealed that an unexpected amount of x-ray emissions coming from Pluto, which was highly unexpected.

An Astronomical Detective Tale and the Moon of 2007 OR10

21 Jun , 2017 by David Dickinson

It isn’t every day we get a new moon added to the list of solar system satellites. The combined observational power of three observatories—Kepler, Herschel and Hubble—led an astronomical detective tale to its climatic conclusion: distant Kuiper Belt Object 2007 OR10 has a tiny moon.

The Next Pluto Mission: An Orbiter and Lander?

26 Apr , 2017 by Nancy Atkinson

For decades, we could only imagine what the view of Pluto’s surface might be. Now, we have the real thing. The images and data from the New Horizons’ mission flyby of Pluto in July 2015 showed us an unexpectedly stunning and geologically active world. Scientists have used words like ‘magical,’ ‘breathtaking’ and ‘scientific wonderland’ to […]

The Orbit of Pluto. How Long is a Year on Pluto?

29 Mar , 2017 by Matt Williams

Given its extreme distance from the Sun, Pluto has a very long orbital period. As such, a single year on Pluto lasts as long as 248 Earth years, or 90,560 Earth days!

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