Pluto (IMAGE)

Southwest Research Institute

Pluto

Caption

A new study led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) posits that liquid nitrogen is rising to Pluto’s surface through cracks in the northern edge of the Sputnik Planitia, part of the massive heart-shaped glacier on the dwarf planet’s surface. This is the first evidence of liquid flowing currently on Pluto. For scale, Pluto is about 3/4ths as wide as the continental United States.

Credit

NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Southwest Research Institute

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