WATCH: Scientists at NASA say it’s like Christmas every day now, as they keep getting new data and amazing new close-up images of Pluto. As Eric Sorensen tells us, Pluto is far more young and active than we ever thought it was.
TORONTO – NASA is holding a press conference at 1 p.m. to release new images of Pluto taken by the New Horizons spacecraft.
New Horizons made history as it sailed past the small world on Tuesday, providing close-up images of the world that until now had only been a faint point of light in the sky.
READ MORE: In Photos: Pluto, then and now
WATCH: Fly across Pluto in this NASA animation.
“Who would have expected this kind of complexity?” said New Horizons’ principle investigator Alan Stern of the newly released images of the surface of Pluto.
One of the discoveries is carbon monoxide ice on the cold world.
The science team has already begun analyzing preliminary data sent back from New Horizons. Of particular interest is Pluto’s atmosphere. Because the world is so small, with so little gravity, its atmosphere escapes into space. The same thing can be seen on Mars, but is far less dramatic.
Fran Bagenal, New Horizons co-investigator, told a media gathering on Friday that they believe about 500 tons per hour of material is escaping into space. By comparison, on Mars, about one ton per hour escapes.
The reason for the escaping atmosphere is due to the the solar wind, they believe. Pluto’s ionized atmosphere interacts with the protons and electrons of the solar wind and carries them out into space.
“What we see behind Pluto is this tail, this ion tail,” Bagenal said.
Along with Pluto’s atmosphere, the scientists have also been examining Pluto’s dynamic surface. The “heart” of Pluto, for example, shows various features including plains, craters and polygonal pitting.
“When I first saw this area, I thought I was going to name it ‘Not Easy to Explain Terrain,” said Jeff Moore, New Horizons co-investigator.
This may be indicative of ongoing geological activity, he continued, including tectonic activity.
Another feature is dark spots that seem to have some wind-blown material coming out of it. Moore said that they could be indicative of wind streaks, such as what is seen here on Earth when the prevailing winds cause erosion or deposition behind topographic features or they could be plume deposits from glaciers. However, he stressed that no plumes have been seen on Pluto.
The scientific data will take about 16 months to collect and will provide scientists with years of data to study.
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