The Independent reports a possible alien ocean may be hiding beneath the surface of Pluto suggesting alien life might be more likely than we thought, scientists believe.
New research shows the dwarf planet could be wrapped in a gassy insulating layer, which keeps water trapped beneath its surface liquid, the report said.
The study, led by Shunichi Kamata of Hokkaido University, might mean the universe is filled with far more alien oceans than previously realized, the newspaper reported.
It also increases the possibility many planets are home to extraterrestrial life far more likely, The Independent reported.
Back in 2015 when NASA’s New Horizons mission flew past the dwarf planet, its high-definition cameras sent back the first-ever close-up images of its surface, the newspaper reported.
Those images showed the dwarf planet appeared odd, the report said, showing a large basin near its equator, for instance.
Further examination of its location and other details, scientists theorized there is an ocean lurking beneath the ice shell, which is thinned at that basin, The Independent reported. However, that possibility shouldn't be possible given the age of Pluto, which is so old its ocean should have frozen and the ice shell around it would have been expected to clamp down.
Now researchers suggest a new explanation for that warm subsurface ocean to sit alongside the dwarf planet's frozen and bumpy shell, the report said. It could be kept that way by a special layer of gas that is serving as insulation.
– WN.com, Jack Durschlag
Photo:
NASA / JHU-APL/SwRI/Roman Tkachenko
