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News Pluto: methane, new photos and a huge crater
The image is marked tool RALPH - infrared spectrometer to detect the presence of methane on Pluto. I>
Pluto discovered methane
The infrared spectrometer mounted on the probe "New Horizons" confirmed the presence of frozen methane on the surface of Pluto. For the first time, the presence of methane on Pluto was discovered by astronomers in 1976.
"We knew that Pluto should be methane, but the first time we were able to detect it," - said Will, Grundy, head of the research team of Pluto's surface.
Methane is a colorless, odorless gas occurring mainly underground and in the atmosphere of our planet. On Pluto, the methane would initially get out of the solar nebula, from which later formed our solar system, 4.5 billion years ago.
New photos of the Pluto-Charon
It simply must be seen.
A huge crater
Post-processing of images of Pluto on June 29, shows us that the planet may have a huge impact crater. In the early pictures it was clear that Pluto, to put it mildly, is not spherical, but the craters of this size - a great rarity in the solar system.
However, it is in fact the final will be known only when the "New Horizons" will approach the minimum distance to the most remote and unexplored planet in the solar system, which will take place just a fortnight.
Source: geektimes.ru/post/252846/