When New Horizons flew 7,800 kilometers above the surface of Pluto, it revealed a world different from anything we had ever seen. There were flat plains, mountains and even a sparse atmosphere. It was far from the stagnant, blue, icy world that had been imprinted on artists’ impressions over the decades. It was a discovery that opened my eyes. And one of the most fascinating images sent back to Earth was the one that pointed to the possibility of ice volcanoes, also called cryop volcanoes. “[At the time], we got back small chunks of images, either smaller images or chunks of images first, because we could not retrieve all the data at once. “And it so happens that one of those stamps we got back happened to be part of this volcanic area,” said Kelsi Singer, a planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo. in the New Horizons. The location of icy water on the surface of Pluto which is a color we do not usually associate with water or ice: red. (NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI)
These volcanoes would not be something like these here on Earth. Instead, they will be powered by water ice and other volatiles such as nitrogen, methane and carbon monoxide. However, there was some discussion that the images were interpreted correctly.

More information on ice volcanoes

Now, a A new study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications provides more evidence to suggest that the icy world is home to these strange volcanoes, which are about seven kilometers high and about 10 to 150 kilometers wide. “Now we have all the data back. And so we can use all that information together,” said Singer, lead author of the study. “And that includes not only the images, but also the typography created by the images, because sometimes your eye can fool you. So typography makes you honest about the features.” Although these cool volcanoes do not look like the ones we see here on Earth, they do have some similarities. Instead of a violent eruption of lava, rocks and dust being thrown into the sky, the material produced by these volcanoes – probably a little ice water, although there is also nitrogen, methane and carbon monoxide ice on Pluto – is believed to be slowly coming to the surface. with some kind of internal heating mechanism. CLOCKS NASA New Horizons makes the historic Ultima Thule flight:

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Where is the heat?

But there is something that remains to be explained in their findings. “Between the composition data and the way the features are, we have said that it must be at least a good chunk of water ice,” Singer said of the features seen on Pluto. “And this is difficult to explain, because you still have to have this material to be mobile and it basically requires some kind of heat source.” There are several ways to get this heat source. One is from the rocky core of a moon or planet where elements break down. This heat can remain trapped until it is released in some way. Another is with tidal heating, where a moon orbits a planet in an elliptical orbit. Due to the difference in distances, the moon can be compressed, in the same way that one could push a stress ball, which in turn creates heat. This can be seen in some of The moons of Saturn, like Egelados. Image of the moon Saturn, Egeladus, showing the “tiger stripes”, long fractures from which water jets are emitted. (NASA / JPL / Space Science Institute)
But Pluto is too far away from any large body to receive this tidal heat, so its relatively small nucleus can generate this heat which then pushes up the mixture of water and nitrogen ice. And other elements are likely to play. “We think it was probably either like a very muddy mixture of ice and water. So it was not like a thin stream. Or it could be kind of like ketchup, which, you know, is not liquid, but it can still flow,” Singer said. . “And we believe that the ejection came from below. And if you imagine something that continues to eject, it will slowly form a dome. And then that dome will stretch and relax, a bit like you have a ball. The Silly Putty and you set it up. at a table: it will slowly spread and relax “. The new study also shows that there may be an ocean 100 to 200 kilometers below Pluto’s icy crust.

“I’m not convinced it ‘s too ordinary”

But not everyone is convinced that what we see on Pluto is the result of a volcano. “Well, yes, there is this issue of the volcano,” said Catherine Neish, an associate professor at Western University who studies planetary surfaces, including the moons of outer planets. “And honestly, I’m not convinced it’s very common. Why not. Think about it: You have a nice glass of water. If it’s a little ice in it, what does the ice do? It floats. So the water is stuck at the bottom, the “Ice is stuck on top, it ‘s really hard to get this dense water over the less dense ice.” CLOCKS The dwarf planet Pluto is still fascinating to scientists:

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But Singer believes the data support the idea of ​​a crypt volcano, and more recently, at least in astronomical terms. He believes these eruptions may have occurred just 100 million years ago. And there is still the possibility of them still happening. Singer said that to some extent Pluto is still a bit of a mystery, and there are still many questions she would like to see answered. The images sent represent about 40 percent of the dwarf planet as a whole. And looking more closely at Pluto could reveal more of these areas, which in turn would help astronomers determine how much heat might be needed to create these cry volcanoes. Singer says she is willing to reveal more about this distant world. It would help astronomers to understand more about its own solar system and its origins, not to mention the myriad moons that are in outer space. “Pluto is unique in its environment. It is unique in its distance,” Singer said. “And it’s not what we expected. So, it really makes us say: what are we missing from our models? And unfortunately, we do not have all the answers there.”