Beacon Transcript

Information which Matters to You

Sunday, February 28, 2021
Log in
  • National News
  • National News
  • Business
  • Business
  • Technology
  • Technology
  • Health
  • Health
  • Science
  • Science
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Authors & Contributors
    • Privacy Policy GDPR
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Authors & Contributors
    • Privacy Policy GDPR

Recent Articles

Ancient Babylonian Clay Tablet Holds the First Trigonometric Table

Ancient Babylonian Clay Tablet Holds the First Trigonometric Table

August 26, 2017 By Clayton Meason

The CDC Draws Attention To The Spike In Cyclosporiasis Cases

The CDC Draws Attention To The Spike In Cyclosporiasis Cases

August 11, 2017 By Troy G. Bennett

Travis Kalanick Resigns from His Position as Uber’s CEO

Travis Kalanick Resigns from His Position as Uber’s CEO

June 22, 2017 By Troy G. Bennett

Amazon Refunds Parents Whose Children Made Purchases Without Permission

Amazon Refunds Parents Whose Children Made Purchases Without Permission

June 2, 2017 By Clayton Meason

McDonald’s Has Been Quietly Altering Its Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe

McDonald’s Has Been Quietly Altering Its Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe

May 21, 2017 By Jennifer Licata

Washington Post Will Be Expanding Its Newsroom

Washington Post Will Be Expanding Its Newsroom

December 28, 2016 By Troy G. Bennett

Pluto Ice Flowers Unveiled By NASA Spacecraft

July 26, 2015 By Helen Bradford

Email, RSS Follow

Pluto Ice Flowers

New images sent by NASA’s New Horizons has shown the world what Pluto’s ice flowers look like and provided the scientific community with information that suggests the ex-planet could still be experiencing geological activity – it has glacier ice streams that break into crates and surround water-ice mountains.

What’s more, close-up images taken of the dark equatorial area revealed that there’s a crater-pocked landscape sitting within the Cthulhu Regio, adding to Pluto’s unexpected complexity.

The most interesting finding is probably that the dwarf planet is a fascinating mix of new and old, with William McKinnon, planetary geophysicist from Washington University (St. Louis) and member of New Horizons’ science team, giving a statement informing that while some parts of Pluto show present day geological activity, other are fundamentally ancient.

Dr. Alan Stern, lead scientist on the mission and member of the Southwest Research Institute (Boulder, Colo), gave a statement of his own, agreeing with McKinnon. He said that “Pluto has a very complicated story to tell” and that researchers have a lot of work to do before they can “understand this very complicated place”.

Field experts expect to reveal many other fascinating findings in the near future as so far they have only received about four or five percent (4% or 5%) of the data gathered by the spacecraft’s seven (7) instruments.

Most of the data that researchers will receive from now until mid-September will be related to engineering information, however an ocean of scientific data will flood researchers for about a year after the spacecraft has finished sending the engineering information.

Dr. Stern also revealed that a lot of the information he and his team received was related to Pluto’s big heart, informally dubbed “Tombaugh Regio” by the New Horizons science team, and that the dwarf planet’s west and east lobes are extremely different from one another.

The ice deposits that form on the eastern lobe and the ones that seem to be flowing out of the area’s southern tip, look a lot thinner than the ones on the western lobe. This indicates that the latter lobe is responsible for the icy veneer that’s covering the geological features found at the east and at the south.

The western lobe, dubbed “Sputnik Planum”, is about the size of Texas and hosts the polygon-shaped patches of ice that resemble garden pavers. The area’s smooth appearance (the absence of impact craters) has led the research team to determine that “this is a really a young unit” that’s only a few tens of millions of years old.

However, these features look like they’re floating scraps at the southern and northern boundaries. These areas also host nitrogen ice streams that are flowing up, and in one particular location heading straight into an ancient crater.

Michael Summers, researcher from George Mason University (Fairfax, Va.), gave a statement explaining that the data from New Horizons is forcing experts to look at Pluto’s atmosphere differently as the dwarf planet’s weather shows up in layers of haze, one roughly 30 miles above its surface, and the other one roughly 50 miles above its surface.

Image Source: guim.co.uk

Email, RSS Follow

Filed Under: Science

Recent Posts

  • Security Guard List As Suspect in 1974 Stanford University Chapel Slaying Kills Himself June 29, 2018
  • Texas Teens Arrested After Decomposing Body of Elderly Woman Found in Garage June 28, 2018
  • Montana Woman in Custody After Forcing Ex to Have Sex with Her June 27, 2018
  • Newly Released Audio Transcript Proves Monalisa Perez Objected to Deadly YouTube Prank June 26, 2018
  • Virginia Woman Shoots New Zealand Man Who Smashed Glass Door with Brick   June 26, 2018
  • Arizona Woman Lied About Kidnapping to Cover Boyfriend’s Slaying June 25, 2018
  • Brooklyn Man Arrested in Niagara Falls Allegedly Chopped off Pregnant Wife’s Arms with Steak Knife June 25, 2018

Related Articles

  • jupiter with the biggest moon of jupiter, ganymede, in front, a satellite, and three moons

    Ganymede, the Biggest Moon of Jupiter, is Revealing New Data (Study)

    May 8, 2018
  • segment of the bayeux tapestry which includes halley's comet

    Medieval Tapestries and Old Scrolls to Offer Proof of the Existence of Planet Nine?

    May 7, 2018
  • stars and galaxies in the universe

    Large-Scale Map of the Universe Reveals Thousands of Early Galaxies (Study)

    Apr 10, 2018
  • landscape view of the milky way and a space observatory

    The Milky Way Might be Getting Bigger, Believes a New Study

    Apr 5, 2018
  • NASA’s Odyssey Captures New Images of Phobos and Deimos, the Moons of Mars

    Feb 27, 2018
  • old book of shakespeare plays open to a page with his image

    Software Reveals Possible Inspiration for 11 Shakespeare Plays

    Feb 14, 2018
  • praying mantis on black background

    Praying Mantis and 3D Glasses Help Discover A New Form of Vision

    Feb 12, 2018
  • two men sitting squatting and looking at the oman desert

    Mars Simulation Tests, Conducted in the Oman Desert

    Feb 9, 2018
  • indian stone tools on grey background

    Ancient Indian Stone Tools Reveal New Things about Humanity (Study)

    Feb 5, 2018
  • Naked mole rats.

    Naked Mole Rats Are Not Affected by Aging, New Study Reveals

    Jan 29, 2018

Categories

  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Health
  • National News
  • Nature
  • Science
  • Stocks
  • Technology
  • US
  • World

Copyright © 2021 beacontranscript.com

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Contact

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Learn more.