The color of the planet Pluto. What new things have we learned about Pluto thanks to the New Horizons interplanetary station

PLUTO

1.Psychic energy. The ability to extrasensory perception. Magic. Mag.\ Damage, evil eye, black magic.

2. Exaltation. Excitation. Sexual energy.\ Mania, sexual perversion, fear, horror.

3.Intensity. Pumping. Heat. Tension. Extreme.

4.Modification. Transmutation.\ Destruction without creation.

5. Death as a transition to another form of life. Rebirth.\ Death as a result of self-destruction, moral decay and suicide.

6. Catastrophe, accident, accident, natural disaster, natural disaster.

7. Acid, alkali, poison, poison.

Positive: spirituality, a tendency towards transformation and renewal, positive foresight.

Negative: aggravated herd mentality, a tendency towards destruction, fanaticism, anarchy, cruelty.

Pluto rules the reproductive organs, rectum, obsessive states, underlying problems, prostate and allergies.

Diseases: flaw vitality, psychosis, mania, hypochondria, oncology.

Pluto colors: dark gray, red-black, brown.

Stones: Morion, Carnelian.

Esoterically, Pluto symbolizes the death of the flesh and the birth of the spiritual principle, the psychic energy with the help of which Uranus produces transformation (alchemy).

PLUTO - the highest octave of Mars concentrates the will and, with the help of the psychic capabilities of Neptune, directs it to transform form and consciousness with the help of Uranus.

1.Collective energy. Man is powerless before this deep, powerful energy. It exacerbates the herd feeling. Many of you have experienced the plutonic state by accidentally finding yourself in an uncontrollable crowd (in the subway, at a stadium, during a demonstration, at a rally). At such moments, a person’s personal self-awareness is blocked; he is poorly aware of what he is doing, because he feels like only part of a huge crowd.

2. The talent of a leader, the ability to control a crowd. Human leaders are capable of transforming individuals into a single, smoothly working mechanism. They know the needs of the crowd well and skillfully manipulate it. People-leaders-experts of human souls.

3. Increased energy and extrasensory abilities. This one is powerful magical energy(witchcraft gift) gives a person the ability to influence individuals and some events even at a great distance.

4.Sexual energy. People born under the influence of Pluto are excellent lovers and mistresses. They understand what sex is, feel all its subtleties and know how to not only get sexual pleasure, but also give pleasure to their partner.

5. Stealth. He likes to work alone, remaining in the shadows. Secretive, reserved and unwilling to open up, he likes to surround himself with an aura of mystery.

6.Death and disappearance. Resignation. Bravery and contempt for death. Death is an ordinary and natural companion for him. Scorpio seems to have a powerful destructive force and at the same time capable of being reborn from the ashes, like the Phoenix bird, he is given the ability to discover unknown paths of self-renewal.

7. Self-confidence. They can withstand any test, pain, poverty, ridicule and mortal danger. They are always ready to attack and know how to defend themselves. Scorpios meet the blows of Fate with the proud conviction that he will still win any battle. He does not care about other people's opinions, he obeys only his own legislation.

Insults and praise are indifferent to him. He is always happy with himself and always knows what he wants.

PLUTO in Signs

The main monastery is convocation. SCORPION.

Secondary monastery - convocation ARIES.

Exaltation - conv. A LION.

Fall - conv. AQUARIUS.

Exile - conv. TAURUS, LIBRA.

Pluto is the great transformer. He destroys the old and replaces it with the new. It is associated with the most radical changes, violent actions, mass movements (mass strikes), mental influence on large masses of people (hypnosis), catastrophes, natural disasters, volcanic eruptions, aggressive liquids (acid, alkali), poisons.

Very strong Pluto in the map indicates outstanding person. This person is most likely a dissenter, someone who will bring new changes to the world. It can indicate large sums of money and the secret power of a person.

On a personal basis, Pluto rules behind the scenes or secretive actions, death and disappearance, resignation, the desire to destroy and rebuild, influences sexual behavior and secret obsessions.

It takes Pluto 248 years to travel through all twelve signs of the Zodiac, remaining in one sign for an average of 14 to 30 years. Pluto influences entire generations of people and is not very significant for the chart natal horoscope individual person. However, the House position and the aspects it creates with other planets are very significant for individual horoscopes. Pluto, like Uranus and Neptune, can influence a person’s psychic (psychic) ​​abilities if it is strongly connected with other planets.

Pluto in Aries. 1823 - 1852

You were born in a 28-year period when people were born who had the courage to throw away traditional ideas and methods and explore new possibilities. Your generation is driven by a deep sense of individuality, freedom and independence. You are a group of free thinkers and individuals who cannot stand the oppression of authority, and sometimes you resist even moderate authoritarian pressure. The desire for personal freedom and self-determination runs very deep within you, and many of you stubbornly resist the customs of society, becoming rebels and outspoken critics of long-held beliefs. You, without hesitation, attack sacred doctrines and attitudes, and the world after you becomes completely different. From your generation are emerging new concepts of science and art, government and public organization. Only a few of your generation will remain in history as successors of radically new ideas or supporters of new methods, but each of you is engulfed in the flame of innovation and discovery.

Radical changes and new ideas are not easily implemented, and many of the ideas brought by your generation will not be implemented or will fail in order to find practical use in a few decades. However, some ideas will be immediately used and put into practice. Some of the concepts and views proposed by your age group are quite simplistic and one-sided, especially in areas such as politics, sociology and psychology. Very often, representatives of your generation follow some ideology with fanatical zeal, refusing to consider all sides of the issue and not taking into account the wisdom and knowledge accumulated by history. Your generation has the youthful excess of strength to destroy the old and lay the foundations of the new, but as is typical of youth, it may lack the wisdom and experience to develop a comprehensive and adequate plan of action.

Some representatives of your generation will become heralds of its aspirations and goals. Others, on the contrary, will try to avoid being caught up in the general fever. The best way out for them - "execute homework", and then move forward.

Pluto in Taurus. 1852 - 1884

You were born in a period of 32 years when people were born who attached exceptional importance to practice. They have a very strong psychological need to feel that a person's life has a solid foundation and a solid foundation. They have an ineradicable need to have confidence that there is no longer any need to worry about the essentials. And that everything in life has a solid foundation. People belonging to your generation spare no effort at work, strive to improve their standard of living, and strive to ensure that everyone is well-fed. They build roads and buildings. Take measures to increase labor productivity. Strive to make progress in creating various kinds enterprises that are an essential basis for a healthy, growing economy.

People in your age group have a very developed tendency to measure the importance of anything by its utilitarian value. For example, in the field of education and scientific research people in your age group are focused on ideas that have practical value. And they provide very little support for research that is rather theoretical.

People of your generation are pragmatic and cannot sit idle. They are consumed by the need to build and DO. This concern for earthly things often acquires extreme character. And it often happens with people in your age group that they rush into extreme materialism, paying too little attention to humanistic, ethical and spiritual values.

People in your age group have a highly developed desire for everything earthly. And you give very great importance physical comfort of housing, delicious food. People in your age group emphasize the romantic side of love, and physical attractiveness is also very important to them.

Only a small number of people in your age group tend to feel out of place in the atmosphere of practicality and materialism that characterizes their era. And remain alien to social norms of its time.

Pluto in Gemini. 1884 - 1914

You were born in the 31-year period, when people were born who had a frivolous and carefree attitude to life. Your subconscious and emotional needs are not as great and not as difficult to fulfill as those of people of other generations. You take life lightly. You are an easy-going person. You know how to have a good time. And don't take life as seriously as other generations.

You are curious and inquisitive. Love all kinds of riddles and word games. Some people belonging to your generation give themselves entirely to this interesting call of their nature. They make amazing discoveries in the fields of linguistics, mathematics and logic.

These findings highlight with particular clarity the importance of education and the benefits it provides. Therefore, people belonging to your generation, in highest degree interested in improving the education and knowledge of all people. You make great efforts to ensure that all people are literate. So that people can master words and numbers. So that fewer students drop out of school due to academic failure. Needless to say, these are noble goals supported by people of all generations. But people of your generation attach much greater importance to these goals.

The generation of people following you is much more emotional and sophisticated than people belonging to yours. age group. However, many people forget about the emotional support and tenderness that your children need. They most often belong to this generation.

Pluto in Cancer. 1914 - 1939

You were born in the 24-year period, when people were born with a highly developed sense of home and homeland. You are a sophisticated person with heightened sensitivity. You are deeply attached to your family and homeland. You stick to what you know well. You are distrustful of other cultures - they scare you. Therefore, racial and national prejudices among people in your age group are quite common.

Of course, some members of your age group are able to come to the perfect understanding that "the whole world is my family." And although this may sound like a banal and hackneyed idea, it is very important for people of your generation. Most, but not all, people of your generation eventually come to this understanding. Men of this group need to learn how to show tenderness and sentimentality. And do not strive to suppress these qualities.

You have a deep need for intimacy, a great desire to be together, so you feel close to family members and old friends. Because of this, you are also inclined to participate in mass movements and all kinds of interest groups, because they support a largely subconscious need to be accepted by the people with whom life encounters you and to be supported by them. Unfortunately, people in your age group are easily influenced by unreasonable public opinion. You often lack the conviction and courage to think and act independently and rationally.

People of your generation are very emotional and soft-hearted. You have sacrificed a lot to help your children or other family members. Whereas people belonging to other generations do not show the desire to give as much as you. Gentleness and concern for the welfare of others can encourage people in your age group to donate to the hungry, to take care of the homeless, to help those in need, especially children and mothers. You belong to a group of people with a caring heart and a generous hand. Many of you have parents or children who are not so easily ready to support others and come to their aid. Much of what you do for the people with whom life confronts you is completely unappreciated or even goes unnoticed.

PLUTO in Leo. 1939 - 1957

Deep analysis of change (Pluto), or can completely change the way you express yourself (Leo).

You were born during the 20-year period when people called the “I am the first letter of the alphabet” generation were born. Its representatives are proud and self-confident people who attach great importance to self-expression and internal integrity. The struggle for women's rights and for the rights of national minorities is of deep interest to your generation, which corresponds to the interest in respect for the individual and dignity. People in your age group understand with all their hearts that everyone, both men and women, should have equal rights and opportunities to fully discover and realize their inner potential.

However, it is particularly difficult for your age group to be a member of a team where the results of work directly depend on the joint efforts of all its members. Your highly developed egoistic principle prevents collective cooperation. You tend to believe that the individual is more important than the team; you do not like management, believing that no one has the right to tell you what you should do. The active movement in defense of those who refuse to submit to military conscription is one example of the importance that you attach to freedom and human rights.

But although you made great efforts to ensure that the idea of ​​personal self-development became known to wide circles, and made a great contribution to the protection of human rights, however, people in your age group show a tendency that is the opposite of withdrawing into themselves. Those around you may be surprised by your ability to devote a lot of time to yourself, taking it away from your family and loved ones.

Each generation has its heroes, idols, but your generation has a special need for a personality that would personify and embody some idea or feeling, a personality that would focus their interests. Perhaps the most shining example what it's about we're talking about, is a Guru idea that has become famous and popular thanks to the people of your age group.

Pluto in Virgo. 1957 - 1972

You were born in the 14-year period when people were born driven by the need to find an ethical standard, to clearly feel what is true and what is false. You have a subconscious desire to eradicate all evil in the world and restore perfect order everywhere. You have an aversion to anything ugly, dirty or ridiculous. But oddly enough, you are often fascinated by what is tasteless, and often feel a sense of hopelessness and despair about the way the world works.

These internal emotional conflicts are reflected in your generation's attitude towards lifestyle. Most people in your age group are conservative and ethical, and only a few are the opposite extreme - they like to be strange, unusual in manners and external manifestations, even sloppy, ridiculous. It seems that there is no middle ground between these two extremes in your generation. Typically, the rebellious type of behavior appears in youth, and then gradually disappears, and at an older age, your age group is rather simply conservative.

Your age group does not compromise easily and tends to have strict criteria about what is right and what is wrong. You have a strong feeling that you must destroy evil in the world. Of course, good deeds are highly commendable, but a categorical and one-sided approach to complex issues unacceptable.

Your age group has undergone a significant revision of its attitude towards Good and Evil and is swinging from one extreme to the other. Your generation will make significant contributions in the fields of medicine, ecology and education. On a personal level, it stimulates analytic skills, criticism, the desire to get to the roots. Rethinking your mind, subordinating it to mass opinion.

Change is coming through social devices, attention to unemployment, national minorities, to personal and public health. A generation of reformers of everyday life.

Pluto in Libra. 1972 - 1984

You were born during the 12-year period when people were born who were deeply interested in personal relationships. Your age group has a deep-seated desire to see people tied friend with a friend and communicating effectively and harmoniously. You have little egoism - rather a willingness to hear the opinion of others, compromise and reconcile different points vision. Your need for peaceful, harmonious relationships is so strong that you tend not to notice existing differences, concentrating only on similarities and trying to bring the parties to mutual harmony.

In your age group there is a strong interest in psychology and sociology, high awareness in the field social systems. Your age group is experimenting with various forms marriage, family relations and even business relationships, trying to ensure fair and effective communications between people. You also have a strong interest and respect for other cultures and work hard to preserve and enhance cultural heritage of all ethnic groups.

Your commitment to equality and harmony is also reflected in significant progress in agreements on trade, arms control and international cooperation, which your generation concludes and implements. These agreements, these policies create a much safer, more cooperative environment for everyone, although there is also a tendency on the part of some individuals to benefit from the atmosphere of general reconciliation and turn the situation in their favor.

In short, you are part of a generation of people who are deeply interested in other people - a group of humanists and humanitarians. You will fight for the harmony of personal relationships and experiment with them, creating new models of relationships between people based on friendship - in the family and the nation.

Pluto in Scorpio. 1984 - 2000

You were born during the 12-year period, which produced people with emotional complexity and depth. Your age group is fascinated by the mysteries of life, and members of this group will make incredible breakthroughs in understanding life processes: significant progress in biological sciences will open up new technological opportunities. Intensive penetration into genetic structure and cellular processes will provide new perspectives. Your generation will also explore the mystery of birth and death, and members of your age group will even create laboratories to find out what really happens at birth and death. There will be breakthroughs in understanding animal behavior and sexual activity. Archaeological research will reveal vast new materials on human history, and ocean exploration will receive new impetus thanks to unusual, interesting finds on the seabed.

Behind all this work there is a deep, tireless interest in the mysterious. You are deeply concerned with sex, power and the occult. Hypnosis, karate and other mental and physical techniques workouts are probably very popular with your age group. The love of mystery will probably give new life horror novels and films: Your age group will make horror a fashion and style item.

Your group is emotionally complex, and you may exhibit some rather strange behavior. You are worried about intrigue and secrets, and this is not your best trait, since it makes you act cruelly or ridiculously. Rates of crime, violence and emotional distress are likely to be relatively high in your age group, and it would be good if your interest in the mysterious, unusual and gruesome did not manifest itself in this way.

Pluto in Sagittarius. 1750 - 1762, 2000 - 2011

You were born during the 13-year period when people have a strong need to feel free, unfettered. As a group, you tend to make big plans and eagerly explore new possibilities. Your age group is very interested, enthusiastic and very proactive. Religious fanatics and philosophical minds are not uncommon in your age group, and many of them reach great success in influencing others and gaining followers.

Your generation has a deep-rooted sense of the vastness of life and endless possibilities waiting to be discovered. Your age group conjures up grand visions of the future, and you create grand schemes and plans. You are very attracted to research and travel, you strive to look beyond the horizon. This astrological phenomenon will occur at the end of the 20th - beginning of the 21st century, and those people will be uncontrollably eager to explore outer space, will try to make a lot of things that seemed fantastic become reality.

Pluto in Capricorn. 1762 - 1777, 2011 - 2021

You were born during the 15-year period when people were born who had a pronounced practical, realistic attitude towards life. You are also ambitious and work hard for achievements in business, commerce and other practical matters. When your generation takes the stage, it seems that all around great amount hard work that needs to be done, and you are ready and able to do it.

Your age group is notable for its "maturity and seriousness." You seem to be deprived of many inner feelings. Most members of your age group have very little left of the child, and you tend to have a colder, more detached attitude towards life than representatives of other age groups. You are ethical, but you lack warmth and cordiality. Looking at many representatives of your age group, you might think that they have lost their deeper, emotional side. Naturally, it is important not to let this tendency prevail, since it can lead to rudeness, insensitivity in relationships, and give a tendency to vicious, unethical activities.

Pluto in Aquarius. 1777 - 1799, 2021 - 2041

You were born in the 20-year period, when people were born friendly and sociable, but not as sentimental and emotional as in other age groups. Your generation does not cling to the past and is inclined to support more close relations with friends and colleagues than with family members. Many of you will leave home, and as a result of increasing urbanization, you will flock to places where there is more hustle and bustle and social activity.

Your generation has a strong emotional need for interaction and unification. You are all one team and place great importance on united action. Businesses, organizations and companies grow to enormous proportions and many advances in science are made possible by such a huge combined effort. Governments are growing, expanding political boundaries states, and some people are becoming concerned about the increasing power of companies, industry and governments. During the activity of your group, clashes of political ideologies intensify, and, unfortunately, as we know from history, clashes large organizations or governments cause significant damage and harm. There is some irony in this - after all, your age group created these huge social structures, based on his deep, rather subconscious need to unite people together.

Pluto in Pisces. 1799 - 1823, 2041 - 2065

You were born in the 23-year period when intuitive people with a strong imagination were born. Your age group has a deep, inner desire for a more idyllic life, and your lofty imagination suggests many paths to achieving your equally lofty goals. Striving for more perfect and wonderful world sometimes leads you to disappointment real situation business This is especially difficult for those of you who had difficult childhoods or who lack inner strength to adequately meet life situations, alcoholism and drug use may result.

Your generation makes a unique contribution to literature and music. Your spiritual and religious aspirations are high. Unlike others, your generation is driven by less tangible things. Spiritual aspirations, artistic inspiration, hopes and fantasies - driving forces Your age group.

Let's consider the astrological features that the color of the planet Pluto has. Remember, I promised to tell you about the secret of black and red Spanish outfits? So, the time has come. We should start with the fact that red-faced Mars is related to Pluto, moreover, the latter is often called the “higher Mars.” Consequently, the “coloring” of these planets is very similar: the garnet-red Pluto differs from the bright scarlet color of Mars only by an admixture of blackness. And the symbolism here is about the same - passion, sexual attraction, high emotional intensity. Only Pluto adds something fatal here, like a pinch of black pepper. Where it manifests itself, the presence of fate is felt, or even the icy breath of death: passion becomes all-consuming or destructive, attraction turns into an insane thirst for possession, the intensity of feelings goes beyond all imaginable limits, giving rise to jealousy and revenge. How can one not remember the fatal beauty Carmen! True, although this story took place on Spanish soil, the main character was a gypsy, and therefore a representative of one of the most Plutonian peoples. So, let's summarize: the blackness shading the red color makes it burn brighter, adds drama, creates tension, intrigue. These are the real ones spanish passions!

It is curious that in a completely different country, in exotic, sultry India, black and red were attributes of the frantic and formidable Kali - the destroyer goddess. In our culture, black in combination with red also reminds of death, being the colors of mourning and funeral paraphernalia.

Color of the planet Pluto. By the way, let's remember who else traditionally wears black and red?! Vampires, who else! Their wide black raincoats, similar to bat wings, in combination with classic tuxedos are successfully complemented by red details - lining, high, sinister-looking collars. And of course, it’s hard for us to imagine a vampire without bright scarlet lips on a deathly pale face. All this is not accidental, because Pluto in its negative manifestations is associated with vampirism, although, fortunately, not classical, but energetic or, as they say now, non-contact.

So, dark red, crimson or garnet - all these shades are attributed to Pluto, the most distant planet from the Sun and the least illuminated. It can rightfully be called the “Kingdom of Darkness,” especially since the Roman god who gave it his name (corresponding to the Greek Hades) was the ruler the afterlife. All of these colors are associated with dried blood, and therefore with danger and death.

The color of a ripe pomegranate may also be associated with the myth of Proserpina, Pluto’s wife, whom he kidnapped like a dashing horseman. Yielding to the admonitions of the gods, he agreed to let her go to the world of the living, but as a farewell he offered to eat a few pomegranate seeds. Having tasted them, the beautiful Proserpina could no longer leave her husband and was forced to return back to his kingdom every six months. After all, the grains were enchanted, and it must be said that “witchcraft” and “magic” are purely Plutonian concepts. Just like Neptune this planet belongs to the water element, associated with secrets, high sensitivity and occult abilities. This idea is confirmed by the fact that among the “honorary citizens” of the kingdom of Pluto was the ominous goddess of witchcraft Hecate.

There is another color combination that is sometimes attributed to the sign of Scorpio, and, therefore, to some extent to its ruler, Pluto. This is a combination of red and green. The presence of the first component is quite natural, but the second... I think the most reasonable thing would be the following explanation. Combining two opposite colors at the same time, especially in equal proportions, is very risky. Instead of the expected brightness and sonority, it can give a feeling of unbearable diversity, becoming a real visual irritant! And when there is dazzle in the eyes, this is stress, that is, one of the favorite states of Plutonians. IN extreme situations they become more active and begin to act unusually calmly and efficiently. Few representatives of other zodiac signs are able to understand and appreciate the ineradicable Scorpio craving for extreme sports.

But perhaps this combination was generated by not too demanding taste. Indeed, unfortunately, in the sign of Scorpio ruled by Pluto, Venus, the planet associated with aesthetics, is in an unfavorable position.

However, this does not mean that among the people under the tutelage of Pluto there cannot be artistically gifted individuals. We can name quite a few wonderful artists belonging to the sign of Scorpio.

If you surf the Internet, you will notice that the same planet solar system may have a variety of colors. One resource showed Mars as red, and another as brown, and the average user has the question “Where is the truth?”

This question worries thousands of people and therefore, we decided to answer it once and for all so that there is no disagreement. Today you will find out what color the planets in the solar system actually are!

Color grey. Minimal presence of atmosphere and rocky surface with very large craters.

Color yellow-white. The color is provided by a dense layer of clouds of sulfuric acid.

The color is light blue. The oceans and atmosphere give our planet its distinctive color. However, if you look at the continents, you will see browns, yellows and greens. If we talk about what our planet looks like when removed, it will be an exclusively pale blue ball.

The color is red-orange. The planet is rich in iron oxides, due to which the soil has a characteristic color.

The color is orange with white elements. The orange is due to ammonium hydrosulfide clouds, the white elements are due to ammonia clouds. There is no hard surface.

The color is light yellow. The planet's red clouds are covered with a thin haze of white ammonia clouds, creating the illusion of a light yellow color. There is no hard surface.

The color is pale blue. Methane clouds have a characteristic hue. There is no hard surface.

The color is pale blue. Like Uranus, it is covered in methane clouds, however, its distance from the Sun creates the appearance of a darker planet. There is no hard surface.

Pluto: The color is light brown. The rocky surface and dirty ice crust create a very pleasant light brown hue.

GIF clearly shows how the resolution of Pluto images changed from 1930 to 2015

New Horizons may be considered one of NASA's most ambitious missions in recent times. The interplanetary station was launched in January 2006, and a year later it ended up near Jupiter. The gravitational maneuver around the giant planet allowed the device to accelerate, and as a result, in almost 8 years, New Horizons flew to Pluto, covering a distance 32 times greater than from the Earth to the Sun. This distance is truly colossal, and information from the device’s transmitting devices arrives very slowly: about 1 kilobyte per second. According to NASA experts, all spectographic, photographic, isometric data about Pluto and its satellites, which have accumulated on two on-board flash drives, will be transmitted more than a year(about 470 days).

Its size is larger than expected

New Horizons image of Pluto and its moon Charon
Photo: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI

Because of its atmosphere (albeit quite thin), scientists could not determine the exact size of Pluto. Adequate data were obtained only when sufficiently close to the planet. New Horizons indicated its exact diameter - 2370 km (for comparison: this is less than the distance from Moscow to Omsk). But it turned out to be clearly larger than previously thought. The discovery immediately excited supporters of the idea that Pluto should once again be recognized as a full-fledged (and not a dwarf, as it is now considered) planet.

Proponents of recognizing Pluto as a dwarf planet, in turn, argued that it is only one of many similar objects in the Kuiper belt (an area similar to the asteroid belt, where material remaining after the formation of the Solar system accumulated) and not even the largest of them - Eris at that moment was considered larger. Therefore, calling it a planet in the full sense of the word, such as, for example, Mercury, is inappropriate. But the emerging fact that Pluto is larger than Eris is unlikely to undermine the argument and provide an opportunity to appeal the status. Moreover, in the Kuiper belt there are new dwarf planets every now and then, and some may turn out to be larger than Pluto and Eris. In addition, Eris is still larger than Pluto in mass, since it is much denser.

The real color of its surface

Pluto and Charon, colored using color filters
Photo: NASA/APL/SWRI

Few people realized that the photos of Pluto that went viral on social networks do not reflect the realistic colors of the planet's landscapes. The colors in the photographs were specially enhanced using filters to show the difference in the structure of the surface. This helped scientists understand the chemical composition of the ice, as well as estimate the age of geological objects. All this can further show scientists how space weather affected surface dynamics.

What color is Pluto's surface really? Back in 2002, when space hubble telescope took pictures of a distant planet, researchers suggested that it has a red-brown color. After detectors installed on New Horizons produced more detailed color images, these guesses were confirmed. Possible explanations have also emerged: the reddish-brown color is most likely the result of chemical process between methane molecules in Pluto's atmosphere and a certain ultraviolet radiation, emitted by the Sun and distant galaxies. The same phenomenon is observed on Saturn's moon Titan and Neptune's moon Triton.

Strange lack of craters

Relief of Pluto
Photo: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI

Upon closer examination of the first images of the surface, researchers were especially surprised by the absence of craters on Pluto. It is known that most of the planets in the solar system are completely pitted with dents formed as a result of bombardment by asteroids. Planets without craters (or with a minimal number of them) - Earth, Venus and Mars - are geologically active, so the resulting craters are covered with more and more new layers of rock. Thus, scientists have suggested that the surface of Pluto cannot be older than 100 million years, which by geological standards (the planet itself was formed 4.5 billion years ago) is a relatively short period.

Possible geological activity

Ice mountains on the surface of Pluto
Photo: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI

Geological activity must be fueled by something. But what can Pluto heat up? On many planets (including Earth), there is a slow process of decay of radioactive materials, which provide heat to the interior. But Pluto is too small to accommodate enough of these materials. Typically, small planets with active geology, such as Jupiter's moon Europa, heat up from the inside due to the phenomenon of tidal acceleration. The planet compresses and unclenches like a tennis ball, now approaching and now moving away from larger objects, because of this its bowels are heating up. But this is unlikely to happen with Pluto, since there are no major planets, capable of influencing him.

Alternative hypotheses suggest that Pluto may have an underground ocean that cools, releasing heat very, very slowly. It could also be that the surface ice found on the planet is a kind of blanket that slows the rate at which internal heat is lost.

All of these questions are of particular interest because the answers to them may apply to many other planets.

Heart Nature on Pluto

One of the fun images that plays on the heart-shaped spot on Pluto
Photo: dorkly.com

New Horizons cameras made it possible to see a spot shaped like a huge heart. This romantic detail contributed to the viral spread of the picture across networks. It was found that the heart spot was formed as a result powerful collision many millions of years ago. The giant depression is likely filled with frozen gases - nitrogen, methane and carbon dioxide.

The researchers were also very surprised by the vast mountain ranges of ice. The height of some peaks reaches 3 km, and this is another indication of possible geological activity.

Unusual atmosphere

Animation simulating a flyby of Pluto's mountains, which was created from New Horizons photographs

The New Horizons spectrometer was able to capture nitrogen atoms that were part of Pluto's atmosphere. Moreover, they were at a distance exceeding seven radii dwarf planet, - this is much further than calculations show. No other elements could be detected, from this it was concluded that Pluto has the purest nitrogen atmosphere of all the planets in the solar system.

The study of the particles also led to the conclusion that they are escaping from the atmosphere faster than expected. The outflow of part of the atmosphere was known earlier; the same process occurred with the Earth billions of years ago. It is believed that getting rid of excess nitrogen contributed to the development of life on our planet.

Satellites

Photo of Charon, Pluto's largest moon
Photo: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI