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New Horizons data reveals vast, previously unseen ice spires stretching across Pluto’s dark side, perhaps mirroring Earth’s ‘penitentes’. A recent analysis of data collected by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft indicates that a substantial portion of Pluto’s surface, specifically its perpetually shadowed regions, is covered in bladed terrain – towering formations of methane ice resembling the penitentes found in high-altitude, snowy regions on earth.
The findings, led by planetary scientist Dr. Rohan Mishra of the California Institute of technology and published in the journal Nature on February 29, 2024, significantly expand the known extent of this unique geological feature on the dwarf planet.The New Horizons mission, which made its historic flyby of Pluto on July 14, 2015, initially revealed bladed terrain in the encounter hemisphere – the side of Pluto facing the spacecraft. This new research demonstrates its prevalence on the opposite, largely unexplored side.
Understanding Penitentes: An Earthly Analogy
penitentes are sharp, tall blades of hardened snow or ice found in high-altitude regions like the Andes Mountains in South America and on some of the highest peaks in the United States.They form through differential sublimation – where sunlight preferentially removes ice from certain areas, leaving behind the spires.The process is influenced by factors like altitude, latitude, and solar angle. Pluto’s bladed terrain is believed to form through a similar process, but with methane ice instead of water ice.
Pluto’s Bladed Terrain: A Vast Landscape
The analysis indicates that the dark side of Pluto exhibits a roughness approximately twice that of the bladed terrain observed during the New horizons flyby. The bladed terrain is estimated to span roughly 60% of Pluto’s circumference – a distance equivalent to five times the width of the continental United States (approximately 2,500 miles or 4,000 kilometers). This band lies between 30 degrees north and south of
