New Horizons reveals that the sky is blue Pluto – publico

                 

                         
                     

                         

                 

 
                         

In the first color images of atmospheric mists of Pluto, sent last week by the probe New Horizons and revealed Thursday by the US space agency NASA, the dwarf planet comes wrapped in a blue light ring.

 

The airborne particles are probably gray or red, explains NASA in its site , but the light is diffuse blue. “This amazing bluish tint gives us information about the size and composition of the particles,” says Carly Howett, Team mission scientist quoted by NASA. “And a blue sky is often the result of the diffusion of sunlight by tiny particles.”

“On Earth, these particles are tiny nitrogen molecules,” he adds. “But on Pluto appear to be particles larger – albeit relatively small – similar to soot and tolinas calls “. Tolinas are also present in the atmosphere of Titan, one of Saturn’s moons.

New Horizons still detected on Pluto numerous small areas where there are outcrops of ice water. “We are trying to understand why the water emerges precisely in those places and not in others,” says Jason Cook, another team member.

All week, NASA has released photographs sent the probe Pluto and its moon, Charon. Last week, the Charon images revealed a complex landscape with mountains and canyons. One had 1600 kilometers long.