New Horizons, a brilliant initiative undertaken by NASA to unravel the secrets of Pluto, has finally discovered some unimaginable facts about the dwarf planet.
Based on their findings, take a look at 23 unknown facts about Pluto.
1. There is a dark pole present on Pluto’s moon, Charon.
2. But this dark pole is actually red in color!
3. New Horizons is the first NASA mission devoted to studying the former planet.
4. It will take 16 months for New Horizons to download all the data it's captured.
Downloading planetary science data even at 4000 bits per second is a pretty slow process.
5. There is a bright heart-shaped region present on the surface of Pluto!
Which measures approximately 1000 miles across.
6. This region is divided in two halves.
One is smooth and icy and the other is filled with craters.
7. The presence of a compound called Tholin makes Pluto look reddish-brown!
Tholins are carbon-compounds which are produced due to ultraviolet radiation.
8. Along with Charon, Pluto has four other moons – Stix, Nix, Kerbaros and Hydra.
9. Charon is the biggest of them all!
10. That's why Pluto is sometimes called the Double Dwarf Planet!
11. This is what Pluto will look like to the human eye.
12. Pluto has quite an interesting atmosphere.
The atmosphere sublimates from one area in the sun and is deposited to the other in darkness, and then this reverses half-way through the orbit.
13. Pluto takes 248-years to orbit around the sun.
14. The atmosphere of Pluto is approximately 98% N2, with traces of CH4 and CO.
15. The light travel time from Pluto to earth is 4.5 hours!
16. Earlier, Pluto was believed to be copper in colour.
17. The dwarf planet was first discovered in 1939 by Clyde Tombaugh.
18. But in fact, Pluto’s existence was predicted 15 years before that!
Astronomer Percival Lowell predicted its approximate location based on the irregularity of Neptune’s orbit.
19. Disney’s Pluto was named after the former planet.
The cute dog debuted in the same year the planet was discovered.
20. Pluto was named the dwarf planet in 2006.
21. Pluto is regarded as the brightest member of the Kuiper Belt.
Kuiper belt is a mass of objects that orbit beyond Neptune.
